The construction of the underground capsule and the elevator shaft pictured in the 1960s. (Courtesy F.E. Warren Missile Base, USAF)

Buried in plain sight on Wyoming’s eastern plains, the Quebec-01 Missile Alert Facility once controlled one of the most destructive nuclear weapons ever built by the United States. 

The inside of the restored capsule is pictured. (Courtesy of Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails, Quebec 01 Missile Alert Facility)

From the underground capsule, U.S. Air Force personnel could fire missiles from silos located miles away. The facility started out as a Minuteman I Launch Control site in 1962 but was eventually converted to a Peacekeeper site in the mid-1980s. 

Hundreds of sites housed missiles across the Great Plains during the Cold War, according to the National Park Service, because of the region’s strategic location — the shortest distance to the Soviet Union was over the North Pole. Being far from America’s coastlines and population centers also meant more warning time in the event of an enemy submarine launch. Plus, the sites’ remoteness put fewer lives directly at risk from nuclear attack. 

The inside of the restored capsule is pictured. (Courtesy of Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails, Quebec 01 Missile Alert Facility)

Quebec-01 was decommissioned in 2005 under treaty agreements between the U.S. and Russia. About a decade later, the interior of its capsule was restored and today the facility serves a different function. 

As the only accessible Peacekeeper Missile Alert Facility left in the world, Quebec-01 is a one-of-a-kind, historic attraction, allowing visitors to take an underground trip to get a glimpse into the daily lives of the missileers who worked behind the 5-foot-thick steel-and-concrete blast door.

In December, the U.S. Department of the Interior bestowed the site with its highest federal recognition of a property’s historical, architectural or archaeological significance with a National Historic Landmarks designation. 

Wyoming State Parks will continue to oversee and maintain the facility, which is currently closed for the season. It reopens to visitors in May.  

The Quebec 01 Missile Alert Facility State Historic Site is approximately 30 miles North of Cheyenne. (Courtesy of Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails, Quebec 01 Missile Alert Facility)

Maggie Mullen reports on state government and politics. Before joining WyoFile in 2022, she spent five years at Wyoming Public Radio.

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  1. Thanks A.T. 30 miles north of Cheyenne is as clear as a couple of blocks from downtown Denver or Chicago.

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