Inside the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency’s underground bunker

All you can see of the bunker from the outside is the cement entrance that leads to the underground network of rooms and hallways.

MEMA used to be called the Massachusetts Civil Defense Agency, and the sign in the foyer seems like something out of a 60s film.

The hallways zigzag because gamma rays only travel in straight lines—in the event of a nuclear attack, this was one way to reduce the amount of radiation that could follow fleeing government officials into the bunker.

The blast doors weigh 6,000 pounds to protect against radiation.

A sign on the blast door.

The letter from JFK’s special assistant, dated the day the president was assasinated.

MEMA’s public information officer Peter Judge shows off the bunker’s morgue.

Three back-up generators sit in the mechanical room.

The main control room of the bunker.

A hallway emblazaoned with the state seal of Massachusetts.

Workers sit around a table to allocate FEMA funds to pay for last winter’s record levels of snowfall.

The 24/7 dispatch room.

Judge surveys photos of the control room during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

A bunk room, because when you’re managing emergencies, hours aren’t predictable.