A Visit to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ Abandoned Vaults
Here is a special treat for you guys. Last week I got the opportunity to visit the old Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Dallas, and brought a camera so everyone could tag along. Why were we there, you may ask? Well, the Layered Tech datacenter in Dallas is located in the very building that was the old Federal Reserve Bank, which is now designated as a City of Dallas historic landmark.
The seven-story building was originally completed in 1921 to house the United States Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The Beaux Arts-style limestone building established Dallas as a center for economic development in the Southwest prior to World War I. The Bank significantly expanded and modernized the property in 1959. Its distinctive architectural style and detailing led the city of Dallas to designate the building a historic landmark in 1979.
In it’s heyday the bank vaults would have been stocked full of gold, and the location in Dallas was a symbol of the city’s power and influence.
The vault may be empty now, but it’s still wickedly cool, and a sight that most people will never ever get to see! Enjoy!
UPDATE: The video that was attached was hosted at a provider YouTube drove out of business. Sorry, it’s gone forever!
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I am the manager/sommelier of a high-end steakhouse, housed in a building that was a bank back in the ’20s – and we use the original vault (looks VERY similar to the one in the video above) for our wine storage… My vault has the same gate/small round port door at the rear as the one in the video – does anyone know what that was used for? Outside the vault, in front of that small round door, there is a metal pole in the ground as well, that comes up to about 4′ in height (the door starts at maybe 5′ in height – any ideas on its former use?
Ventilation in case someone was locked in. The pipe connects to a tank on the roof while allowed the vault to be filled with water during a fire.
Very impressive design, I like the individual lockers inside of the main vault. The presentation was very nice and Cali is hot.
i never seen an emty vault before
Wow. That vault is impressive. That vault is more secure than any I have seen in the movies. It is also impressive that you were featured on this clip. Great presentation/tour!
As a CA Student , i went on couple Bank Audits and we used to go for Cash Checks in the huge locker rooms, but they were quite smelly because of the paper notes :)