Armageddon didn’t come to Mount Dora, and the bunker was never put to use. But the bunker’s whereabouts have become something of a mystery.
After days of digging, the News 6 team uncovered a 1961 land lease for the bunker that reveals the coordinates of its location.
Some background...
With the actual Cold War making nuclear war seem like a very real threat, several wealthy Mount Dora residents took the plot as a warning and began pooling their funds together to build a group bomb shelter to keep themselves safe.
According to the late journalist Bill Sievert, citrus magnate William Baker and then-Lake County Health Director Dr. James Hall spearheaded the project, believing that grouping together would be more efficient than crafting single-family shelters.
00:00 Coming Up
00:16 Background
01:20 Road Trip
01:40 Downtown Mount Dora
02:14 The Search Begins
02:43 Orange Groves?
03:14 Interviewing Shop Owners
04:09 The Mayor Speaks
06:43 Scouting The Location