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Beneath the streets of Detroit is a network of tunnel systems as elaborate as the bustling metropolis above.
Uncovering this underground world opens up the secret caverns you need to understand Detroit’s history. Although most of the tunnels are now abandoned and closed to the public, learning about these mazes can help you understand the city’s importance on a national level.
Explore what lies beneath, from the salt mines that brought the city’s economic prosperity in the early 20th century to the remains of hidden caverns used to store liquor during America’s Prohibition era.
pedestrian walkway
Approximately 100 years ago, the proliferation of automobiles led to a historic jump in the number of pedestrian deaths. Detroit’s Highland Park neighborhood, home to nearly 50,000 residents in the early 1920s, reported a historic spike in pedestrian fatalities in 1924.
The solution was to build an underground tunnel to direct all pedestrian traffic, similar to the style of underground walkways seen in London and Canada. In 1925 three more tunnels were built at the Highland Park intersection, including one at Midtown’s Cass Avenue and Peterborough’s Street, although the physical remains of the latter location are not left today.
Recorded by TikTok user @Colin313 in July 2022, Highland Park’s raised cement underpass can be seen at the corner of Cortlandt and Second Avenue.
salt mine
Rock salt was discovered beneath the streets of Michigan in 1895, and almost immediately horizontal salt beds were mined for the resource’s rich currency.
By 1906, Detroit founded the Detroit Salt Company to develop a safe and effective method of mining salt. It took years for a 1,060-foot shaft to be dug in the city center, and by 1914, Detroit was exporting 8,000 tons of rock salt each month.
The mine remained in operation until 1984, and after a short hiatus it reopened in 1983 to supply the road salt used by the city today. Road salt is currently the only salt produced at this mine, and tours were briefly offered in the mid-1980s, but this has now been discontinued as production continues.
more:A look inside Wayne County’s annual winter salt distribution process
Fisher Building Tunnel in Detroit
The Fisher Building in Detroit was built in 1927 by the Fisher Brothers. Fisher Body Company was responsible for introducing the 1910 Cadillac’s closed body chassis and the first of his four-door sedan bodies.
In the wake of this major success in reimagining the auto industry, the brothers decided to purchase 32 lots along West Grand Boulevard “as a representation of the Fishers’ activities in Detroit.”
The 441-foot Art Deco building is flanked by two 11-story, flat-roofed wings topped with a glowing green spear.
To facilitate employee commuting, an elaborate tunnel system underground connected Fisher to New Center and the General Motors building.
The tunnel is now open, but the once-bustling storefronts are all shuttered.
more:10 interesting facts about Detroit’s Fisher Building
Detroit Medical Center Tunnel
Adjacent to Wayne State University’s campus in Midtown, Detroit Medical Center has eight hospitals in a one-block area bounded by John R., Mack, St. Antoine and East Canfield Streets. Each hospital is connected by a tunnel system, providing safe and seamless movement for both patients and healthcare workers.
Prohibition Era Tunnel
A little more than 100 years ago, Detroit became the first major U.S. city to enact prohibition. Prohibition completely criminalized alcohol and its distribution and consumption, and Prohibition lasted more than a decade until it was repealed in 1933.
Almost as soon as this law was enacted, underground smuggling and human smuggling began to emerge, with some experts estimating that 75% of the alcohol that entered the United States during Prohibition crossed the river from Detroit to Canada. It is assumed that this is the cause.
Tommy’s Bar on Third Street was previously owned by a businessman affiliated with the city’s notorious Purple Gang, and a 2013 WSU-sponsored archaeological excavation uncovered a basement that led to a fake room beneath the bar. A bootlegger and tunnel system were excavated.
common ditch
Installed in the early 1950s, the utility ditches lie beneath the streets of midtown and downtown Detroit, transporting the water and steam needed to fuel the region.
The network of steam tunnels and pipes dates back to 1903 and is now used to heat buildings across the city. The tunnel reaches a depth of 60 feet below the road surface, opens into a 10-foot by 10-foot well, and stretches for many miles.
The steam loop ran on coal until it was converted to natural gas in the 1970s, and by 1986 the Detroit incinerator became the primary source.
The steam is also used to cook hot dogs at Lafayette Coney Island and brew beer at the Detroit Beer Company.
Beyond the city…
Detroit Metropolitan Airport Light Tunnel
A psychedelic tunnel of light connects the A and B/C courses at Detroit Metropolitan Airport to an original soundtrack.
The light tunnel at McNamara Terminal is approximately 800 feet long and is illuminated by 9,000 feet of glass panels and LED lighting as a moving walkway carries passengers through the tunnel.
If you are sensitive to light or noise, press the “pause button” at the end of each tunnel to pause the light and music show for 15 minutes.
Northland Center underground tunnel
Beneath the halls of the old Northland Center in Southfield lies a maze of tunnels several miles long with an astonishing 484 rooms dating back to 1954. The tunnel was primarily used for truck deliveries to and from Northland stores, and also contained storage space and a nuclear bomb. Shelter.
The unique system of service tunnels set a precedent for surrounding shopping centers, but after the mall closed in 2015, it remained closed to public access and impassable. The tunnel was likely filled in during the mall’s demolition in 2021, leaving behind some debris. A treasure trove of arcade games and mannequin torsos.
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