
This is the most exciting thing I've read about in months! Thanks so much to Chris for sending me the link.
Fresno, California has its own secret, underground city. Beneath the neighborhood that was once Fresno's Chinatown lies a series of brick-walled tunnels that can only be accessed through trapdoors in the basements of old buildings. (Sound familiar? It gets even better.)
Today the subterranean world is populated solely by bats, rats, and alley cats. But according to some residents, the tunnels were still hopping with activity as recently as the 1950s. Rick Lew, who claims to have visited Fresno's Shadow City as a child, recalls seeing gamblers, bootleggers, and other shady types mingling with townsfolk who had come looking for a thrill.
After more than 100 years of use, the tunnels were abandoned shortly after Rick Lew's visit. By the end of the 20th century, most people believed the tunnels under Chinatown were little more than an urban myth. Now archaeologists are investigating, and they're using radar to locate long forgotten passages. Some believe that the network of tunnels may be far larger than anyone imagined.
Read more here and here.

I have to drive up to Fresno andexplore them!
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool! It's a real Shadow City!
Oh, wow! Another Shadow City! You know that you are going to have to explore the tunnels for us, Ananka!
ReplyDeleteThis is so exciting!
ReplyDeleteAnd I just remembered that the History Channel is airing its Bucharest episode of Cities of the Underworld tonight in honor of Dracula/Halloween :)
I have a friend who lives in Fresno! I wonder if they know about this...
ReplyDeleteIf I'm ever in California I have to see that!
ReplyDeleteDo the Irregulars ever use radar?
ReplyDeleteShame, though, that California's a couple thousand miles north of me...
Annemarie: A 'real' Shadow City? What about Ananka's Shadow City isn't very, very real??
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing that out, Anonymous. And as for radar . . . more on that later.
ReplyDeleteThis is just SO cool! I visit family in California nearly every year, and some day i would LOVE to get to Fresno to see this Shadow City.
ReplyDeleteTHE IRREGULARS SHOULD NEVER USE RADAR!!!! It would destroy every thing!!!!
ReplyDeleteDon't be rude, Infamous. It was just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a very interesting suggestion. Infamous is obviously a fan of doing things the old-fashioned way. I respect that! But I'm afraid Luz is already working on a little something . . .
ReplyDeleteI respect that as well, but it's rude to shout.
ReplyDeleteI was only thinking that radar could help you see if there were tunnels you hadn't explored yet, i.e. beyond blockages that made the tunnels look like dead ends, sort of what you did with the Underground Railroad station 'under the temple' (,the solution to your dilemma lies).
you can't tell if someone is shouting when they're typing! see, i wasn't shouting, i just used an exclamation point for dramatic emphasis.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies in that case.
ReplyDeleteThat is soooo cool!What are radars??On second thought, nevermind.
ReplyDeletei agree w/ infamous radar would ruin it!
ReplyDelete