If you ask someone what Fort Knox is, they’ll probably tell you it is where American keeps most of its gold locked up. Past that, most information is kept behind lock and key. Here is more information on where according to the U.S. Mint, where $261.6 billion dollars worth of gold is stored.
In 1933, during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlawed the right to own any gold coins, gold bullion, or gold certificates. This forced American citizens to sell their private gold back to the Federal Reserve. From 1933 to 1937 the value of gold that the Federal Reserve had rose from four billion dollars to 12 billion dollars. The issue that they ran into was that they simply did not have space to keep all the gold. (What a nice problem to have…)
In 1936 the United States Government took land that was already a part of Fort Knox, the Army base in Kentucky and started construction on the United States Bullion Depository. Construction cost $560,000 and was completed in December. It’s encased in 16,000 cubic feet of granite and 4,200 cubic yards of cement.
Starting January of 1937, gold was gradually shipped from across the country. The majority of transfers used rail cars and were sent by registered mail. These trains were protected by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Treasury Department agents.
Once gold is in the building, it is virtually impossible for someone to steal any. The vault door weighs an astounding 22 tons and made of a 21-inch-thick material that is resistant to drills, torches and explosives.
Don’t try to come in through the ceiling either, it features a bombproof roof as well.
Additional layers of physical security include: video cameras, minefields, barbed wire, electric fences, armed guards – even unmarked Apache helicopter gunships.
Gold is not the only thing that has been safely guarded in Fort Knox. Over the years, it has served as a temporary home to the original Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, original copies of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and crown jewels from European nations, proving the security of the property.
With there being 44 Presidents, only two have visited. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. In order for anyone to visit, a Presidential order is required to gain access. It would not be a good idea to attempt to breach Fort Knox’s several lines of defense.
Only one man has ever tried to break into Fort Knox. His name was Goldfinger.
With Goldfinger being the only one with an attempt under his belt, it looks like we will have to continue to just read articles, watch documentaries and create our own opinions on the gold fortress in Kentucky.
