From the 1960s and into the 1980s Civil Defense was something that became a part of life for many people in the United States. With Cold War tensions a big part of the relationship between the US and what was then the USSR (Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic) the protection of citizens in the event of an atomic attack was an important part of government and most locations had Fallout Shelters to protect citizens from the after-effects of an atomic attack.
Crossville was no different and there were a number of public buildings that could be used as fallout shelters to protect citizens that luckily never had to be used. A batch of documents has come to light from a Civil Defense Emergency Preparedness Conference held at the Cumberland County Courthouse on March 11, 1971.
Program from the March 1971 Civil Defense
Public Officials Conference
The three-hour evening meeting was put on by Tennessee Division of Civil Defense and the University of Tennessee (UT) Division of Continuing Education and moderated by Harry V. Price who was the director of the Civil Defense Extension Program for UT. Local government officials, business and civic leaders, educators and community leaders were given an open invitation to the meeting.
Cover from the Civil Defense
Emergency Preparedness Conference
in 1971
Local participants in the program included Charles F. Walker, director of the Crossville-Cumberland Co. office of Civil Defense; County Judge (mayor) J. T. Horn; Crossville Mayor Edd Brandon and Roy T. Hall, director of the Crossville Cumberland Co. Chamber of Commerce.
Presentations were made by Winchester Tennessee County Judge Roy T. Crownover and John H. Keese, Jr. the area coordinator of the state office of Civil Defense who had his office in Winchester city hall. A 30-minute movie called “In Time of Emergency” was shown.
Judge Crownover spoke about the responsibility of local government for emergency preparedness and Mr. Keese gave information about Civil Defense programs in area two.
The final part of the meeting was a panel discussion on where the community was at the time and what the next steps should be.
Along with the meeting documents was a stack of reports on the various fallout shelters in Cumberland county including several downtown buildings, local schools and incredibly the Franklin Limestone mine near Crab Orchard that would shelter an estimated 17,658 people.
Other shelters and capacities include:
- Cumberland Co High School would shelter 355 people
- Crossville Elementary School would shelter 10 people
- CCHS Stadium would shelter 75 people
- Crossville Medical Group would shelter 235 people
- Cumberland Medical Center would shelter 490 people
- Pleasant Hill Elementary School would shelter 295 people
- Homestead Elementary School would shelter 50 people
- Woody School would shelter 100 people
- Hills Department Store would shelter 350 people
- Lays 5 and 10 Store would shelter 30 people
- Wards Department Store would shelter 115 people
- The US Post Office (on Main St.) would shelter 385 people
- Cumberland Elementary School (old high school) would shelter 1380 people
- La Frances Building would shelter 1365 people
- Luvernia Building would shelter 925 people
Original Fallout Shelter Sign
from the La Frances Building in Crossville
Documents showing fallout shelter capacity for the
now torn down La Frances building
