
Celebrating 70 Years | Beyond the Barricade
SRS ties that shaped our community Walt Joseph boarded a shuttle bus from his hotel for his first visit to the Savannah River Site in 1954. On that day his young wife, Paula Nissley Joseph, took the family car to downtown Aiken. The gas explosion on Laurens Street had happened the year before and the rubble was still evident. The Chamber of Commerce was in a log cabin and much of the surrounding area was farmland. Sixty-five years later, the Josephs still laugh as they recall the early days of building a life together in Aiken. They originally met on a blind date in 1951 when Walt was working on