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All the United States Virginia Front Royal Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
AO Edited

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

This sprawling farm was once a Cold War-era hideaway for the nation's top diplomats.

Front Royal, Virginia

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Elliot Carter
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Aerial view of the SCBI   Smithsonian Institute/Public Domain
Cheetah at SCBI   Ronda Gregorio, Smithsonian's National Zoo/Public Domain
Przewalski’s Wild Horse and foal at SCBI   Jessie Cohen, Smithsonian's National Zoo/Public Domain
White-naped crane at SCBI   Roshan Patel, Smithsonian's National Zoo/Public Domain
Scimitar-horned Oryx at SCBI   Dolores Reed, Smithsonian's National Zoo/Public Domain
Modern Smithsonian bird feeders on the property.   Katja Schulz/CC-BY-2.0
Purple Martin “Condos”   Katja Schulz/CC BY 2.0
  Brian Gratwicke/CC-BY-2.0
  Brian Gratwicke/CC-BY-2.0
The campus now hosts the Smithsonian and GMU students.   Brian Gratwicke/CC-BY-2.0
The Army “remount” facility that predated USDA’s cattle station.   Boston Public Library/CC-BY-2.0
Front entrance   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
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An hour-and-a-half drive west of Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute sits on a sprawling rural campus in Front Royal, Virginia. Long before the biologists set up shop there, the farm also saw use as a U.S. Cavalry installation, cattle research lab, and, most improbably of all, as a Cold War-era continuity of government site for the Department of State.

During the 1950s and '60s the property drew official cover as a Department of Agriculture beef cattle breeding station. But behind the scenes the Foggy Bottom diplomats stockpiled survival gear, built up regional highway infrastructure (the better to evacuate along), and made plans for the days after the bomb dropped. Along with the expected gear like water and survival biscuits, the bureaucrats also amassed a horde of office supplies including 200 typewriters and 10,000 sheets of paper.

The State Department’s relocation planning is just one of countless examples of the early Cold War push to establish a “federal relocation arc” in the Blue Ridge Mountains ringing Washington. In an era before intercontinental ballistic missiles, civil defense assumed that there would be time to escape an atomic bombing using their automobiles and the nation’s new interstate highway system.

The byproduct was a shadow "government in waiting" of bunkers, stockpiles and relocation facilities. Interestingly, Washington tribalism meant that each Department and agency went about planning independently, no matter how obscure. Hence the Front Royal fief for the Secretary of State.

Civil defense planning lost much of its steam after the Cuban Missile Crisis dispelled the idea that nuclear warfare would be survivable. The State Department and USDA cattle scientists had abandoned their property by 1973. And the deed later passed to the Smithsonian Institution, who use it to this day to breed endangered animals. Cheetahs now roam the fields, and administrators occupy the two-story stucco building that had been earmarked for the Secretary of state and his wife.

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Cold War Government History Military History Secret Science Smithsonian Military

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The facility is partially open to the public one day a year, in the fall. Free tickets are required. None of the animal areas are viewable.

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Elliot Carter

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carstelvizsla, Michelle Cassidy, blimpcaptain

  • carstelvizsla
  • Michelle Cassidy
  • blimpcaptain

Published

January 17, 2018

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Sources
  • https://youtu.be/k7jmobVI-oE?t=30m15s
  • http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/04/14/the-american-governments-secret-plan-for-surviving-the-end-of-the-world/
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20030427183627/https://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/CRC/FrontRoyal/about_us/CRC_history
  • https://books.google.com/books?id=XfPIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA183&lpg=PA183&dq=state+department+relocation+facility+front+royal+virginia&source=bl&ots=G-LN1hol5Z&sig=KlKu6bIxc3QbmTXkuPy58XPV0kc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwih3571_9XYAhUPymMKHS93Au0Q6AEIVzAI#v=onepage&q=state%20department%20relocation%20facility%20front%20royal%20virginia&f=false
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
1500 Remount Rd
Front Royal, Virginia, 22630
United States
38.887692, -78.163759
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