Below Detroit’s streets is a network of tunnel systems almost as elaborate as the bustling metropolis that sits above it.
Unveiling this underworld opens a cavern of secrets necessary to understanding Detroit’s history. While most of the tunnels are now abandoned and closed off to the public, learning about these labyrinths can contextualize the city’s importance on the national level.
From the salt mines used to launch the city into economic prosperity at the start of the 20th century to the remnants of hidden caverns used to store liquor during America’s Prohibition, explore what lies below:
Pedestrian walkways
Around 100 years ago, the popularity of automobiles resulted in a historic spike in pedestrian deaths . Detroit’s Highland Park neighborhood, which housed close to 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. Three more tunnels were built at the Highland Park intersection in 1925, including one in Midtown at Cass Avenue and Peterboro Street, though no physical remnants of the latter site remain today.