Tuesday, August 12, 2008

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.)

23 Comments:

Blogger Spring said...

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

10:27 AM  
Blogger MinnieMouseLoverxoxo said...

Awesome!

1:00 PM  
Anonymous 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.

1:42 PM  
Blogger Kirsten Miller said...

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

1:45 PM  
Blogger 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]

3:02 PM  
Anonymous 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.

4:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Annapolis, Maryland has underground tunnels. YAY GO ANNAPOLIS!

~Lady of the Dance

5:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous 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.

6:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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

7:16 PM  
Blogger MinnieMouseLoverxoxo said...

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

7:24 PM  
Blogger 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!

7:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Psh of course nothing near me.

10:08 PM  
Blogger 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!

8:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Try Havre, Montana

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

2:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous 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.

4:47 PM  
Blogger 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

11:54 AM  
Anonymous 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!

5:59 PM  
Anonymous KitKat said...

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

6:24 PM  
Anonymous KitKat said...

awesome I would love to be you!

6:25 PM  
Blogger Kirsten Miller said...

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

6:26 PM  
Anonymous KitKat said...

Me again. hey check your email kiki!

7:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cambridge Ohio has an underground town. Google it..its very cool.

10:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry, I'm sure your underground count of "cities" in Kansas is off. I know that Garnett, Kansas ( county seat of Anderson county has/had walkways going around underground around the courthouse square. Don't know if any part is still accessible. Believed to have been built during prohibition, it was also a stop for railroad crews. So I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't quite a few more.

11:26 AM  

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