Google Earth Community: Elko Tract, the lost city of richmond

so what is the lost city of richmond?simply put.. its a Decoy.. when it was first constructed in the 40's at the hieght of WWII, the center piece of the instilation was a scaled down copy of the airstrips at nearby byrd field, now known as RIC, Richmond international airport.in the adjoining woods, a series of roadways, also mimicking the area around the airport were constructed..the prevailing fear at the time was that if the US were to be attacked, one of the primary targets to be hit would be the Norfolk navel yards. sweeping inland a few hundred miles, then traveling north, the invaders would then head to Washington DC. in the meen time.. Richmond would be considered a target of opportunity and would also be bombed.To avoid this scenario, and to protect the strategically important airfield.. in case of attack.. Richmond proper, and the airfield would be blacked out, while the decoy town would be lit up.The invading forces would then presumably bomb the decoy town and leave Richmond alone.this is a technique dating back to WWI, and was chiefly employed by the britsh in protecting thier own airfields.theres a name givin to such airfields that I can't place right now.. but Elko tract was one of many built across the US.so why the houses, street curbs, and other various infrastructure?well.. originally.. the fake air strip came complete with fake hangers as well as fake support buildings. However. things really came into play in the fifties..Richmond was looking for a new location for the 'colored infirmed' translated, this meens that they were looking to build a new loony bin to house all the non-whites, and Henrico county offered up this track of land for that purpose.. thats when they went so far as to start installing the infrastructure for a very large medical campus. including sewage hookup, water mains, and a large water tower.The deal fell through however.. and the land was abandoned again.. to be left to the whims of the teenage thrill seekers, and neckers..so the stories about alien compounds and strange gun bearing officials ushering folks out of there?well.. think about it.. the land is state owned, and bordered by an air national guard base.. I would believe most of the reports of being hassled by phantom G-men could be directly contributed to bored guardsmen messing with the kids.the place has obviously developed an air of mystery because of it though.. it has all the plot points, and the legends all came from a time of cold war, and mystic paranoia.phantom suburbia lost in the woods, being patrolled by G-men to either keep people out.. or keep something in.. its a wonderful story..in the late 90's, a good chunk of the land was sold off to make a technology park. there's now a semi conductor plant located on the western ridge of Elko and while the Air national guard was relocated to Langley a couple of years ago.. the land is still looked after by the semi conductor plant's security force, trying to guard against corporate espionage..

for the purpose of follow up, here are some links

Wiki on Elko tract
Article from WAG
Follow up article in WAG, with pics!
Lost richmond article.. lots of good pictures

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