Today in history: Seattle began constructing the only U.S. fallout shelter tucked in an interstate

WSDOT's caption: If you've ever walked by this nondescript gate on Weedin Place in Seattle, you might have thought it was just another WSDOT storage facility. Inside, you'll find the only fallout shelter built into a highway anywhere in the nation.
Washington Department of Transportation

Fifty-seven years ago on Wednesday, Seattle started building a future for itself. Like many Seattle infrastructure projects, this one wouldn't necessarily pan out in the way leaders might've hoped. But it also presented a possibility for an alternative future for the city -- on May 15, 1962 city officials broke ground on a new fallout shelter being built in Ravenna.

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The shelter would go up relatively quickly, for how long it had been in the making; after years of the Cold War heating up, the U.S. conducting nuclear attack drills, proposal and design, and executive orders instructing "effective and viable civil defense," officials broke ground in May 1962 and finished by March 1963.

And though the whole thing had seemed novel at first -- Seattle constructed the new shelter under the newly-built Interstate 5 snaking its way through the city -- almost just as quickly, the world moved on.

"By the time it got built, people were realizing that the idea of surviving a nuclear war was just insane," said Scott Williams, manager of the Washington State Department's cultural resources program, which handles the archaeology and history items for WSDOT.

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"There weren't enough fallout shelters in the country, and it was essentially a waste of money is how a lot of people viewed it. So no other fallout shelters were built under interstates anywhere else in the country."

That makes Seattle unique with its city-built fallout shelter underneath I-5, where it still sits today.

Every Seattleite worth their salt knows that Seattle doesn't actually get more rain than anywhere in the country (keep it down though; the San Franciscans are listening). But can you attest to the varacity of the rest of these Seattle myths and legends? Click through the slideshow to check your knowledge. — Every Seattleite worth their salt knows that Seattle doesn't actually get more rain than anywhere in the country (keep it down though; the San Franciscans are listening).

But can you attest to the varacity of the rest of these Seattle myths and legends? Click through the slideshow to check your knowledge.
JORDAN STEAD/SEATTLEPI.COM

Were there actually strippers at Seattle World's Fair? Yep. You could find them at "Show Street" which was billed as "naughty but nice" and featured models posing revealing space-age costumes (in keeping with the fair's aesthetic). Fairgoeers could rent cameras to take pictures. From the book "The Future Remembered" on the World's Fair: "The Seattle Censor Board ordered the show closed at one point. Among its complaints: excessive shimmying and shaking by bare-breasted "space girls." The board he been led to believe would be standing still." — **Were there actually strippers at Seattle World's Fair?**

*Yep.* You could find them at "Show Street" which was billed as "naughty but nice" and featured models posing revealing space-age costumes (in keeping with the fair's aesthetic). Fairgoeers could rent cameras to take pictures.

From the book "The Future Remembered" on the World's Fair: "The Seattle Censor Board ordered the show closed at one point. Among its complaints: excessive shimmying and shaking by bare-breasted "space girls." The board he been led to believe would be standing still."
State Archives/seattlepi.com file

Is Nordstrom's return policy really so good that someone once brought a tire in and returned it? This is a fun one, but no. It's a bit of a twisty tale though: According to Snopes, though Nordstrom is legendary for its return policy and customer service, this legend seems decidedly untrue, even if Nordstrom themselves have egged it on a bit. John Nordstrom himself said he was there, but this was years after Nordstrom insisted the tale was lore. Not only that but the timing of the story never seemed to line up quite right. Home Depot has also laid claim to this tale over the years. Either way, Nordstrom is still pretty generous with their returns. — **Is Nordstrom's return policy really so good that someone once brought a tire in and returned it?**

*This is a fun one, but no.* It's a bit of a twisty tale though: According to Snopes, though Nordstrom is legendary for its return policy and customer service, this legend seems decidedly untrue, even if Nordstrom themselves have egged it on a bit. John Nordstrom himself said he was there, but this was years after Nordstrom insisted the tale was lore. Not only that but the timing of the story never seemed to line up quite right. Home Depot has also laid claim to this tale over the years.

Either way, Nordstrom is still pretty generous with their returns.
Kevin Schafer/Getty Images

Did a Seattle police officer really help smuggle booze during prohibition, get caught, go to jail, and become a bootlegger king upon release? Oh hell yeah! Roy Olmstead (pictured here on the right in the photo with his wife that lead the PI back in 1931 upon his release) learned the bootlegging trade from his involvement in raids and arrests as a Seattle Police Lieutenant. His arrest in 1920 was pretty scandalous, considering that up to that point he had been considered the department's golden boy. He was fined $500 and lost his job but he managed to find new work: devoting himself full-time to being "King of the Puget Sound Bootleggers." His operation dwarfed any other liquor operations in Seattle, legal or no. His eventual arrest for rum-running, for which he served 35 months in federal prison, eventually made it to the Supreme Court for a major ruling about the wire-tapping efforts feds used to catch him. — **Did a Seattle police officer really help smuggle booze during prohibition, get caught, go to jail, and become a bootlegger king upon release?**

*Oh hell yeah!* Roy Olmstead (pictured here on the right in the photo with his wife that lead the PI back in 1931 upon his release) learned the bootlegging trade from his involvement in raids and arrests as a Seattle Police Lieutenant. His arrest in 1920 was pretty scandalous, considering that up to that point he had been considered the department's golden boy. He was fined $500 and lost his job but he managed to find new work: devoting himself full-time to being "King of the Puget Sound Bootleggers."

His operation dwarfed any other liquor operations in Seattle, legal or no. His eventual arrest for rum-running, for which he served 35 months in federal prison, eventually made it to the Supreme Court for a major ruling about the wire-tapping efforts feds used to catch him.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Was UW's Red Square intentionally designed with bricks to make student protests harder? Not as far as any documentation shows. The area was designed to sit above the parking garage underneath it, and the engineers who designed the garage were afraid that if they put grass on top it would leak into the garage. Though it came about in 1961, just in time for an era known for collegiate protests, it seems the bricks are just a structural (if slick) choice. — **Was UW's Red Square intentionally designed with bricks to make student protests harder?**

*Not as far as any documentation shows.* The area was designed to sit above the parking garage underneath it, and the engineers who designed the garage were afraid that if they put grass on top it would leak into the garage.

Though it came about in 1961, just in time for an era known for collegiate protests, it seems the bricks are just a structural (if slick) choice.
P-I File

Was there really a duck-eating sturgeon in Lake Washington? Well, no . For seemingly decades there was talk of a giant sturgeon running around the area preying on ducks. Sturgeon don't eat ducks, but there has been many sturgeon pulled out of Lake Washington that look like the 640 pound, 11-foot sturgeon above. This one was found on Nov. 6, 1987 near Kirkland, but an 8-foot one turned up as recently in 2013. — **Was there really a duck-eating sturgeon in Lake Washington?**

*Well, no*
. For seemingly decades there was talk of a giant sturgeon running around the area preying on ducks. Sturgeon don't eat ducks, but there has been many sturgeon pulled out of Lake Washington that look like the 640 pound, 11-foot sturgeon above. This one was found on Nov. 6, 1987 near Kirkland, but an 8-foot one turned up as recently in 2013.
JIM BATES/AP

Is there really a PB4Y wrecked off of Magnuson with the bodies of the crew still inside? Yes and no. No, there are not remains still left in the plane. But yes, there is actually a World War II bomber, sunken in the lake off of Magnuson. The plane was doing a routine training flight from the Sand Point Naval Air Station that sent the bomber crashing shortly after takeoff into Lake Washington. The crew was safely recovered, but after lugging the plane up from about 175 feet of water a shackle pin broke and the plane sank back to the depths. Further salvage efforts were abandoned, and the plane still rests just off the Magnuson's boat ramp under about 155 feet of water. — **Is there really a PB4Y wrecked off of Magnuson with the bodies of the crew still inside?**

*Yes and no*. No, there are not remains still left in the plane. But yes, there is actually a World War II bomber, sunken in the lake off of Magnuson. The plane was doing a routine training flight from the Sand Point Naval Air Station that sent the bomber crashing shortly after takeoff into Lake Washington. The crew was safely recovered, but after lugging the plane up from about 175 feet of water a shackle pin broke and the plane sank back to the depths. Further salvage efforts were abandoned, and the plane still rests just off the Magnuson's boat ramp under about 155 feet of water.
Paul Joseph Brown/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Was Jimi Hendrix kicked out of Garfield High School for ______? Nope. Depending on when you came up and where you were, you might've heard that Hendrix got kicked out of either having sex with a white girl, or having sex in the hall way, or having sex in the stairwell – suffice it to say it was not for any of these. Hendrix actually dropped out of Garfield when he was 16 to work. He returned seven years later to pick up an honorary diploma from the high school though, spending the years in between in the army and then launching a major music career. — **Was Jimi Hendrix kicked out of Garfield High School for ______?**

*Nope.* Depending on when you came up and where you were, you might've heard that Hendrix got kicked out of either having sex with a white girl, or having sex in the hall way, or having sex in the stairwell – suffice it to say it was not for any of these. Hendrix actually dropped out of Garfield when he was 16 to work. He returned seven years later to pick up an honorary diploma from the high school though, spending the years in between in the army and then launching a major music career.
David Redfern/Getty Images

Was Seattle Public Schools' first school founded by prostitutes? Not really, no. One of the first Seattle teachers was a Mercer Girl (Elizabeth Ordway, pictured here), the nickname given to women who arrived in Seattle by boat. They became known as "mail order brides" towards the middle of the 20th century, which has morphed over the years into "prostitutes." Though they were technically brought to Seattle by Asa Mercer during the Civil War, probably for the purposes of marriage, they were technically there to even out the man/woman ratio that was askew all over the nation at the time (in the East, from the war; in the West, from frontier life). Many of these women went on to be teachers in what eventually became SPS. — **Was Seattle Public Schools' first school founded by prostitutes?**

*Not really, no.* One of the first Seattle teachers was a Mercer Girl (Elizabeth Ordway, pictured here), the nickname given to women who arrived in Seattle by boat. They became known as "mail order brides" towards the middle of the 20th century, which has morphed over the years into "prostitutes."

Though they were technically brought to Seattle by Asa Mercer during the Civil War, *probably* for the purposes of marriage, they were technically there to even out the man/woman ratio that was askew all over the nation at the time (in the East, from the war; in the West, from frontier life). Many of these women went on to be teachers in what eventually became SPS.
/ Museum of History and Industry

Is "Jeremy Bunker" in Ft. Ward about the kid from that Pearl Jam song? No. This legend sprung up around Bainbridge and the Pearl Jam song "Jeremy," which describes a boy who killed himself. Local myth had it that Jeremy was a local who shot himself in the bunker in Ft. Ward, named the "Jeremy Bunker," and now haunts the place. Eddie Vedder has said that the song is about a boy in either (or both) Texas and California. — **Is "Jeremy Bunker" in Ft. Ward about the kid from that Pearl Jam song?**

*No.* This legend sprung up around Bainbridge and the Pearl Jam song "Jeremy," which describes a boy who killed himself. Local myth had it that Jeremy was a local who shot himself in the bunker in Ft. Ward, named the "Jeremy Bunker," and now haunts the place. Eddie Vedder has said that the song is about a boy in either (or both) Texas and California.
Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

Is there a tunnel running under Queen Anne Hill? Yes, but don't expect it to help you get to Fremont any easier. The tunnel was for the counterbalance trolley that used to run up Queen Anne Ave. N. until 1940 when trackless trolleys and buses took over. A worker, W.W. Wiley shown here in a 1940 P-I archive photo, would hook a cable to the counterbalance when the streetcar was going up the hill. — **Is there a tunnel running under Queen Anne Hill?**

*Yes,* but don't expect it to help you get to Fremont any easier. The tunnel was for the counterbalance trolley that used to run up Queen Anne Ave. N. until 1940 when trackless trolleys and buses took over. A worker, W.W. Wiley shown here in a 1940 P-I archive photo, would hook a cable to the counterbalance when the streetcar was going up the hill.
seattlepi.com file

Is there a tunnel under North Aurora? Yep, though it's really a pedestrian underpass that has been closed for years. As Casey McNerthney reported: "You can find it at the intersection of Aurora and North 79th Street, on the north side. It was created in the early 1930s - Aurora opened in 1932 - for easier pedestrian travel on the old highway. But it closed after problems with drugs and prostitution in the area." — **Is there a tunnel under North Aurora?**

*Yep, though it's really a pedestrian underpass that has been closed for years.* As Casey McNerthney reported: "You can find it at the intersection of Aurora and North 79th Street, on the north side. It was created in the early 1930s - Aurora opened in 1932 - for easier pedestrian travel on the old highway. But it closed after problems with drugs and prostitution in the area."
Casey McNerthney/seattlepi.com file

Did a Japanese Glenn overfly Seattle in June 1942? Nope, but it did land those responsible for Seattle's air defenses during World War II in hot water for a little bit. The Glenn's were used twice later in 1942 to drop incendiary bombs on forests in Oregon (in an attempt to cause devastating forest fires). So when a U.S. Navy interrogator heard from a Japanese staff officer after the war that a Glenn had launched a reconaissance mission against Seattle that went unrecorded, the news spread about the "close call." However, this has since been attributed to an error in interpretation during the initial interrogation. — **Did a Japanese Glenn overfly Seattle in June 1942?**

*Nope, but it did land those responsible for Seattle's air defenses during World War II in hot water for a little bit.* The Glenn's were used twice later in 1942 to drop incendiary bombs on forests in Oregon (in an attempt to cause devastating forest fires).

So when a U.S. Navy interrogator heard from a Japanese staff officer after the war that a Glenn had launched a reconaissance mission against Seattle that went unrecorded, the news spread about the "close call." However, this has since been attributed to an error in interpretation during the initial interrogation.

Was Padelford Hall intentionally built confusingly to help protect UW staff from rioters?

Probably not, but maybe. The building – which houses faculty across a few departments and features many idiosyncasies like hallways that lead to dead-ends and don't connect between towers – has quickly become notorious among UW students for its utterly perplexing layout.

A profile from UW's alumni magazine Columns attributes this to a couple things: UW architecture was going through some experimentation, the unusual site of the hall created didn't lend itself to a standard design, and the firm's previous work included designing prisons.

Walt Crowley, a local history buff and UW student during the '60s, told The Daily that he thinks there's some credence to the idea that Padelford was "certainly not designed to conducive human habitation," and arguably "intended to withstand and discourage student protests."

That the giant plate glass windows of UW's collegiate Gothic style are gone, does seem peculiar, but so far no one's turned up anything that this is deliberately designed to defend from protesters. The building did receive an American Institute of Architects Seattle merit award for design when it first opened in 1967, though!

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And though the spot never got used in the event of a nuclear attack, it did get used. According to Williams, in order to get approval to build it from the Bureau of Public Roads (which later became the Federal Highway Administration, and had jurisdiction over the growing interstate system), the city had to abide by the Bureau's rule that things built into the interstate weren't just empty, open spaces.

So, as a secondary use, the fallout shelter also operated as a Department of Licensing office from 1963 to 1977.

The shelter is a good size, but it's not exactly roomy or comfortable (perhaps making it perfect for a DOL office). Per a 2010 WSDOT blog entry about the shelter:

Very little of the fallout shelter is designed for aesthetic appeal or comfort. From the folding metal chairs to the impossibly small bathrooms, to the institutional green and mauve color scheme, the fallout shelter is government utilitarianism at its best. A giant concrete pillar in the center of the shelter supports the 18-inch-thick concrete roof of the 3,000-square-foot room. From overhead, the muffled sounds of I-5 traffic filter into the shelter.

... To the left, down the hallway leading to the escape tunnel, are two doors to his-and-hers bathrooms and decontamination showers. For the suggested 200 shelter-ees: Three toilets, one urinal, two sinks, two showers. All of which are accessible through doorways that – at best – might be 28 inches wide. It's enough to make airline bathrooms seem positively spacious in comparison.

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It was not designed for a lot of comfort (those showers have just a 40-gallon hot water tank for all 200 people), and it's unclear how thought through the design really was -- there isn't even a kitchen, and instruction manuals that survived in the shelter instruct residents to warm cans of food in their armpits.

Facts about the shelter:

- Contractors were given 120 days to build it, so as not to delay the freeway construction.

- The shelter is covered with 4 1/2 feet of backfill and 429 tons of sand to protect those in the shelter from radiation.

- In addition to the highway overhead, the structure has an 18-inch concrete roof, and 15-inch concrete walls. The whole structure has a radius of about 28 feet and 5 inches.

- Residents were reportedly expected to bring their own food, which upon entry would be given to the shelter manager to distribute equitably.

- The Red Cross provided books, games and other recreational equipment. Collapsable metal bunks and insulated paper blankets were also on site.

- Without 200 people crammed inside, the building is quite chilly. While being used as a DMV, the electricity bills were reportedly quite high thanks to the numerous electric space heaters the staff had brought in.

- Williams said many WSDOT members didn't know of its existence until KOMO called to do a story about it in 2010.

But there was a protocol in place for how the shelter was supposed to be used: among the instructional material left behind, the shelter manager would let the first 200 people in (be they neighborhood residents or just travelers along the highway) before locking the door and directing anyone else who comes to the next available shelter.

"Of which there weren't any," Williams said.

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Though Seattle officials continued to designate buildings and basements as potential fallout shelters (as many as 867 of them), Williams says the impracticability of the defense was starting to dawn on more and more people, cutting into any interest in building more.

After all, not only would you need to build out thousands of fallout shelters sitting empty for most of the time for a city like Seattle, but the actual bomb technology was improving and getting bigger -- making most plans to hide under your desk or in a basement futile.

"It's a really stark reminder of wow people were pretty desperate or hopeful that they could survive a nuclear attack," Williams said.

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"You really have to look back at the history of that time, at the fear of an imminent nuclear attack, especially by the Soviet Union ... But I don't think people really grasped the power of nuclear bombs at the time; they could see the results of the ones dropped in Japan. But from 1945 to 1960, the bombs got bigger and bigger and hydrogen bombs got invented."

RELATED: Photos: Seattle in the '60s:

Century 21 / Close Up of Eye of [Space] Needle. Eastman Color Film. [Seattle World's Fair] Date: 1962. Item No: 73121
Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives

Though it wouldn't be until July 1982 that then-Mayor Charles Royer would officially withdraw Seattle from planning for a nuclear war, calling the Federal Emergency Mangement Agency's plans to evacuate the population of Seattle to east of the Cascades "virtually useless," and that they would not "lend credence to the dangerous idea that a nuclear war is a manageable emergency."

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After 1977, the shelter began being used as a storage facility for WSDOT, either for paper records or furniture that was in the process of being moved. After that, it was largely closed to the public, with Williams pointing to just a few "problems with homeless people moving in," or attempts for public tours.

And while it is mostly just a big empty room that officials don't expect to be all that interesting to tour groups, the shelter still sits underneath I-5 in Ravenna (the street address is considered to be 6800 Weedin Place Northeast), complete with escape hatches, a generator, an air filtration system, and a locked door.