Skip to main content

Hollywood meets the Library of Congress in this underground vault

Built into the side of a mountain in Culpeper, Virginia, is a massive underground vault containing some of cinema’s most priceless works of art.

Located in the heart of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center on the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus, the Nitrate Film Vault contains nearly 150,000 reels of pre-1951 film shot on nitrate stock.

At one point, nitrate was universally used in the film industry, which is why so many classics are stored there.

The vault contains the world’s largest collection of original studio negatives from all the big Hollywood studios, such as Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, RKO Pictures and Warner Bros.

In this episode of “Matt About Town,” WTOP’s Matt Kaufax takes you behind the scenes to a place few people in the region get to see.

Hear “Matt About Town” first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM!

If you have a story idea you’d like Matt to cover, email him or chat with him on Instagram and TikTok.

Check out all “Matt About Town” episodes here!

How to meet some of the National Zoo’s tiniest furry canine friends

Clocking in at just under 2.5 pounds and about a foot long, the fennec foxes at the Smithsonian's National Zoo prove that good things come in small packages. In the latest episode of “Matt About Town,” WTOP’s Matt Kaufax got the rare opportunity to go behind the scenes to play with these four-legged friends to learn a little more about what makes them so unique—and see how the Zoo is helping their species thrive in the wild.
Read Next Story