Massachusetts played a pivotal role during the Cold War era. In 1957, the Strategic Air Command established the Notch Bunker, a three-story hardened facility built into the Holyoke Mountain Range near Westover Air Force Base. The state led the nation with a groundbreaking $3 million underground Emergency Operations Center in Framingham, dedicated on November 16, 1963, designed to run state government post-nuclear blast, capable of withstanding a twenty-megaton missile explosion within three miles. In 1964, AT&T constructed a forty-thousand-square-foot underground bunker in Chesterfield, built for both military and civilian purposes, intended to resist nuclear, biological and chemical attacks. By 1966, there were a total of 6,623 fallout shelters in Massachusetts.Utilizing vintage photographs and maps, local author Joshua Shanley explores the state's bunkers, bases and missile silos and their impact on current emergency planning.
- | Author: Joshua M. Shanley
- | Publisher: History Press
- | Publication Date: Apr 22, 2025
- | Number of Pages: 00176 pages
- | Binding: Paperback or Softback
- | ISBN-10: 1467157899
- | ISBN-13: 9781467157896