Fallout Shelter - Okmulgee, OK
Posted by: hamquilter
N 35° 37.356 W 095° 58.296
15S E 230867 N 3946157
Public safety provisions made during the Cold War.
Waymark Code: WMBWV6
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 06/28/2011
Views: 3
At the west entrance to this 8-story brick office building at 115 S. Grand in downtown Okmulgee, a Fallout Shelter sign remains as a legacy of days gone by. With a full basement, this building was once the location of a community shelter against atomic attack during the Cold War of the 1960s.
In the 1960s, when the U.S. was fearful of an attack from Russia, the Department of Civil Defense was established and shelters were constructed throughout the country, and particularly in Washington D.C. Children in schools had regular Civil Defense Drills where they were taught what to do and where to go in the case of an atomic attack. Your radio program might be interrupted at any time with beeps and the words "This is only a test....." as the Civil Defense systems were tested.
The yellow sign (three triangles inside a circle) could be found in various places in towns, usually in strong, masonry buildings with basements (schools, armories and public buildings) where the maximum protection could be found. The program began to dissolve in the 1970s when funding cuts and apathy prevailed. Today, you will rarely find one of these signs, and it is estimated that only 5 to 10 percent of them remain. Interest has recently surfaced to protect these signs as a part of our history.
This Fallout Shelter had a capacity of of 770, as stated on the Shelter sign.
Capacity of shelter: 770
Radiation monitoring equipment: Not Listed
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Visit Instructions:
To find one of the waymarks, you need a picture of the sign and of the inside with your GPS in the picture.