Fort Reno
Metro Stop: Tenleytown-AU
- Red Line
Closeup of Map of D.C. Civil War defenses in 1865. (Source: Wikipedia)
Situated at the highest point in D.C., Fort Reno was built in 1861 as part of a series of Civil War defenses. During the battle of Fort Stevens, Fort Reno was protected by wounded soldiers and Parrott rifles, the latter dangerous enough to keep Confederate forces from extending the attack to Fort Reno.
Nearly 100 years later, in 1961, the Government decided to use Fort Reno for a new purpose: a top-secret communications facility. It was disguised as a water tower, but in reality was meant to be a continuity of government site in the case of a missile exchange with the Soviet Union