A 1913 National Historic Landmark resort built over 18th-century mineral springs, hiding a declassified Cold War congressional bunker and a long catalog of guest ghost stories.
101 W Main St, White Sulphur Springs, WV 24986
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$$
Luxury resort. Overnight rates run several hundred dollars and up; the declassified bunker tour is sold separately. See the resort website for current pricing and reservations.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Manicured resort grounds, paved drives and walkways, multi-story hotel with elevators; the bunker tour involves stairs and long corridors
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1913 · National Historic Landmark district (1990) · National Register of Historic Places (1974) · Mineral-springs resort dating to 1778 · Project Greek Island Cold War congressional bunker (1959-1962, revealed 1992) · WWII diplomatic internment site and Army hospital
The resort grew out of the mineral springs at White Sulphur Springs, a destination since 1778 when early settlers adopted the local practice of bathing in and drinking the sulphur water for ailments such as rheumatism. Through the 19th century the springs drew a wealthy clientele, and the site became known as 'the Old White.'
In 1910 the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway purchased the property, and the present hotel opened in 1913. Over the following decades The Greenbrier hosted presidents, foreign dignitaries, and corporate gatherings, and during World War II the federal government used it briefly as an internment site for Axis diplomats and then as an Army hospital. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and designated a National Historic Landmark district in 1990.
The resort's best-documented secret is Project Greek Island, a fallout shelter built between 1959 and 1962 to house the U.S. Congress in the event of nuclear war. The bunker sat hidden beneath the West Virginia Wing, stocked and maintained for three decades but never activated. Washington Post journalist Ted Gup exposed its existence in 1992, after which the government decommissioned the facility. It now operates as a guided tour and, in part, as a commercial data-storage site.
The resort changed hands again in 2009, when coal businessman Jim Justice acquired it out of CSX's bankruptcy proceedings. It continues to operate as a luxury destination.
Sources
The Greenbrier's haunting reputation rests mostly on accounts collected from guests and employees rather than any single famous case. The most repeated story describes music drifting from the hotel ballroom, sometimes with the sense of an unseen party in progress, that falls silent when staff open the doors to an empty room. Visitors have also described footsteps and a presence in the West Virginia Room, doors that open on their own, and a small figure or child's voice on the upper floors.
The lore drew mainstream attention through professional football. When the Arizona Cardinals trained at the resort in 2015, safety Tony Jefferson told reporters he repeatedly heard what sounded like a little girl's voice in his room and from his closet, despite no children being on his floor; he eventually nicknamed the presence 'Carol.' Coverage by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph and football outlet Big Blue View recounted Jefferson's account alongside other players' unease, and the stories resurfaced as later NFL teams used the resort for camp.
The resort itself promotes its documented history rather than its hauntings, and the ghost reports remain anecdotal. They are reported here as the persistent guest folklore of a working hotel, not as confirmed events.
Notable Entities
Book a room or cottage at the operating Greenbrier resort. Guests over the years have reported the building's catalogued ghost stories firsthand; the resort markets its history rather than its hauntings.
Guided tour of Project Greek Island, the once-secret Cold War congressional fallout shelter carved into the mountainside beneath the resort's West Virginia Wing. Reserve through the resort; the tour is sold separately from lodging.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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