Thursday, January 1, 2015

Two New Underground Cities to Report





(Awesome picture from agentsofurbanism.com.)

It seems that some states are luckier than others when it comes to secret underground cities. I recently discovered that Kansas has not one but TWO!

The first can be found under the sleepy town of Leavenworth. The article I read doesn't offer much information, but from what I gather, a stretch of underground storefronts can be accessed through the basement of a tile company. Though the tunnels are clearly old, no one can agree on why they were built--or who might have built them. Some say they were created to hide fugitive slaves, others think they were used to run liquor during prohibition. In either case, I wish I could find some better pictures!

The second underground city is beneath Ellinwood, Kansas. Actually, it's more of an underground village, since it now consists of two long tunnels and three rooms built sometime in the 1850s. (Apparently it was once much bigger.) You can find an interesting guide with pictures here.

So our list of American Shadow Cities grows! Here are the ones I've discovered so far . . .

Portland
Seattle
Pendelton, OR
Fresno
Chicago
Leavenworth, KS
Ellinwood, KS
Tacoma, WA
New York (of course!)

Am I missing any? (Of course the list of international Shadow Cities is much longer. I just found out that Beijing has one, too! More on that later.)

20 comments:

Spring said...

Cool! Toledo had better find some underground cities soon. Or maybe I could find one! lol

Anonymous said...

Cool, except i don't think Fresno's counts. Can an interesting place in a boring town/city really be exciting. and the other thing in fresno is just a garden. you can visit it.

Kirsten Miller said...

Anonymous: Ah, but you CAN count Fresno. Check out the new link on the post.

Kitty said...

DURN! New Jersey really dosen't have anything! [tho maybe I could dig around the millions of historical sights near my house to find a underground tunnel... *D]

Anonymous said...

Im not sure if Athens Ohio would count, you cant find it anywhere on line but beneath most old shops uptown there is a basement that is linked to all the other basements Down town. More like secret pasageways, but there are rats.

Lady of the Dance said...

Annapolis, Maryland has underground tunnels. YAY GO ANNAPOLIS!

~Lady of the Dance

Poison Pen said...

This is insane! I've said it before and I'll say it again, NOTHING exciting ever happens in Colorado! Well, there was Colombine and Sand Creek and Camp Amache, but those are bad exciting.

Anonymous said...

where in chicago is there an underground city
i live in the suburbs
but my cuz's live in the city
mk

MinnieMouseLoverxoxo said...

oh Ananka do you know if there are any underground tunnels of cities anywhere in Canada?I would LOVE to know!

liltomboyblue11;) said...

AWESOME!!! I think there is also one under a college in asheville, north carolina. ;) I want to convince my mom to go explore it, then i will give a report!

Michele said...

Psh of course nothing near me.

Kirsten Miller said...

Anonymous #3: I just linked to the Chicago information. Check out the post!

MinnieMouseLover: There are, indeed. Here's just one Canadian Shadow City: http://www.tunnelsofmoosejaw.com/tours.asp

Liltomboyblue: Under UNCA? I think I've heard about that. I need to check it out!

Anonymous said...

Try Havre, Montana

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/4349

ss chick said...

ya know what kirsten? i think that next summer (while i'm there of course) or i guessa it would have to be around haloween, (=( that means i wont see you!) but you should go to portland and get a tour of the shanghai tunnels. they apparently give them around halloween cause they are reported to be haunted! my stepmom really wants to go on one of the tours. i bet it would be fun.

laura said...

Yep, Havre, MT has one as well. I have toured it in the past. Here's another link:

http://www.havremt.com/attractions/beneath_the_streets.htm

KitKat said...

Hi.Kiki Strike are you real? Because if you are then I would really love to meet you. You see I have read your books and I would like to do the same thing. Please answer back! Hope to meet you soon!

KitKat said...

Hello I am very intrested in looking for underground tunnels. Maybe we could swap email.

Kirsten Miller said...

KitKat: Excellent. You can reach me at kikistrike@gmail.com

KitKat said...

awesome I would love to be you!

KitKat said...

Me again. hey check your email kiki!