Stop me if you've heard this one before...Kentucky is home to a really big cave system. Okay, yes. Facetious, party of one. That's me. And Mammoth Cave isn't the only cave system in the Commonwealth.
What about tunnels, though? In Kentucky, five tunnels offer a glimpse of the past, and the stories they tell can be pretty dark. Also, not all of them are accessible, and maybe, by now, NONE of them are. But let's dig in, anyway.
The Seelbach Hotel
According to Kantuckee.com, everyone from global dignitaries to some of America's worst criminals stayed at the Seelbach on occasion. And the website alludes to how this particular tunnel--located two stories below the hotel's ground floor--was used.
Kantuckee's references to dark secrets, escape routes, and hasty exits sure don't sound like references to royalty.
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Tunnels underneath the seminary were built to move heat throughout the campus. They are very old tunnels and not accessible to the public. But, from what I've learned, there's an Egyptian sarcophagus that the public can view, so it probably isn't in the tunnel. But the Louisville Courier-Journal doesn't confirm the sarcophagus ISN'T in the tunnel. But since it's available for public viewing, I'm guessing it isn't. (I'm so confused.)
The Louisville Courier-Journal
A tunnel in the basement of the LCJ building was the scene of a horrific incident in 1989. A former employee shot and killed eight people before taking his own life. Part of the rampage happened in this particular tunnel.
Sauerkraut Cave
E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park sees hundreds of visitors throughout the year. Still, it was once the site of the Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum, which was later renamed Central State Mental Hospital. (By the way, my mom once interned there during nurses' training in the 1950s.)
It had relocated to LaGrange Road by the 1990s. But in its early years, long before refrigeration, a passage known as Sauerkraut Cave ran beneath the hospital. It was used to store sauerkraut and milk, among other things. The cave's entrance can be found behind the park's archery fields and is accessible to the public.
The Waverly Hills Sanatorium
As we all know, Waverly Hills is open for touring, and one of its features is the "body chute." It's an unpleasant term, but that's what it was--an underground tunnel used to transport deceased tuberculosis patients. Waverly Hills was a TB hospital.
Make sure, when you go exploring ANYWHERE, that you are respectful of any rules and regulations that prohibit entry to abandoned places.
As I said earlier, some of these tunnels are NOT available for touring.