Formerly Community Savings Assn. Fredericksburg Tx.

Dallas Fire Station 55

Baylor University Physics Building

First Baptist Church of White Settlement

Caldwell Elementary, Mc Kinney, Texas

Dallas Public Library, Audelia Road Branch

Community Savings, Fredricksburg Texas

Churchill Way Presbyterian Church

LaGrange College Library, Georgia

Peoples National
Bank Paris, Texas


Central Christian
Church Sherman Tx


Old Power Plant
Weatherford Tx.


2301 Forest Lane
Garland, Texas


Community Tours Main

Shelter Tours Main

Back to Civil Defense Museum Main
Civil Defense Museum
I actually took 2 different sets of photos of this place during 2 separate trips to Fredericksburg during the 4th of July holidays. I went by the bank the day after the 4th in 2001 and talked with the lady who manages the bank and told her about this web site, what I was up to, and she was nice enough to take me down in the basement to show me around. I can't remember her name now but she had worked there since it was Community Savings Association. I think this building was built in the late 1950s or early 1960s. It has some nice "Mid-century Modern" elements to it's design that I have featured on my other site www.cosmicool.com.

This is looking at the back of the building. This building is a few blocks from where my grandparents lived in Fredericksburg. During visits to their house in the summer I used to walk around town and I would always go by this building, look at the fallout shelter sign and wonder. There is a large community-use room, which is the marked shelter area, under the east wing to left. The main outside entrance to the room is under the overhang by the flag pole.

Here is another view of the east wing of the building. There are offices separate from the bank on the ground floor. It looks to me like this building was built with fallout shelter space as part of the design. This follows all of the standard suggestions in civil defense literature which suggest including community rooms as additional shelter space. It might be just a coincidence but that's the way it looks to me from my warped shelter mind.

Air Ventilator
This is one of the things that makes me think that it was designed as a shelter. This is an exhaust ventilator from the basement room. The metal door on top of the angled vent opens when the fan is on and closes by gravity when the fan is off. This vent is located in front of the east wing in the bushes next to the parking lot. This vent is about 2 feet square in size.


Outside Entrance/Exit
Here is the entrance under the east overhang prominently marked with a fallout shelter sign. A wide double stairway leads down on each side.


Community Room
Here is the community room looking towards the outside double door entrance/exit. Double doors can be seen at far end of room. I asked the manager if the shelter was ever stocked with supplies and she said that it wasn't.


This hallway is at the west end of the basement. Exit at end of hallway leads to stairway that opens to back of the south side of the building. Another shelter sign here used to have a capacity sticker. The capacity sticker was peeled off so I couldn't tell what the intended capacity was.