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Hoyt Wooten Bomb Shelter |
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...World's largest private bomb shelter |
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In
1960, Memphis radio and TV pioneer Hoyt Wooten was concerned about a
nuclear attack and constructed the world's largest private
bomb shelter. It is a 13-room complex beneath his
Whitehaven estate and included dormitories for 52 people, a
communications center, recreation room with a pool table,
dining room, and a
morgue. The complex was powered by generators
fueled by underground storage tanks. When the attack didn't
happen, Wooten printed postcards and opened his shelter for tours.
After his death in 1969, the estate was turned into a
subdivision called Lion's Gate, and the bomb shelter became
the Community Center. It's empty now. But the
tent-like slab, which conceals the entrance, still shows above
ground. |
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One
of Wooten's postcards |
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Click on small photos to
enlarge them. |
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| Living Space |
Control/Office |
Dormitory/Bedrooms |
Hoyt Wooten
1963 |
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Hoyt B.
Wooten was the founder and owner of WREC Radio and Television in
Memphis. His broadcasting career began in 1919 when he started
an amateur radio station. Three years later Wooten started his
first commercial radio station in Coldwater, Mississippi. He
later moved the station to the Peabody Hotel in 1925. Hoyt
Wooten made a fortune in the radio-television industry. |
| Hoyt Wooten |
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Credits |
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The
Historic-Memphis website does not intentionally post copyrighted
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On
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The "Historic-Memphis" website would like to acknowledge and thank the
following for their contributions which helped make this website
possible:
Memphis
Public Library, Memphis University Library, Memphis Law Library,
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acknowledged on the pages of their contributions. Special
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access to his outstanding collection of contemporary Memphis photos.
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historic-memphis.com |
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