Why Are There Abandoned Tunnels Under Cincinnati, OH?

If you have ever been to Cincinnati, you've probably seen The Connector. An electric-powered streetcar that, well, connects  Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine and Banks neighborhoods. It is free to ride 365 days a year and makes a 3.6-mile loop through the Central Business District.

However, once upon a time, the city had dreams of an underground subway system. In the mid-1800s, the Miami and Eerie Canal carried people and goods across the Midwest until trains became a more common mode of transportation. This left the waterways unused and stagnant. Citizens began brainstorming ways to use the canal that would be beneficial to a growing metropolitan area at the turn of the century.

According to the City of Cincinnati website, "In 1916, with an overwhelming vote of almost six to one, the citizens of Cincinnati said yes to spending $6,000,000 to solve its transit problems; but for the start of construction, the answer was definitely no for the moment, because the United States had become involved in World War I."

That was just the beginning of the ill-fated subway project. From after-war inflation to construction causing property damage, funds ran out with only a little more than two miles completed. Cincinnati was left, literally, with a six-million-dollar hole in the ground by 1927.

During the Cold War when atom bomb threats were a reality, officials thought it would be an ideal fallout shelter.

"In the early 60's the federal government saw fit to renovate a particular station and install various items of equipment - toilet facilities, water facilities, heating facilities, etc. -so that it could be utilized by federal personnel in the event the need was necessary, and also, for both the county government and city government in the event of a disaster situation involving fallout. Government officials would assemble in the shelter facility and direct activities."

Over the years, lots of people have had dreams about how to utilize the tunnels. Proposals were made for underground parking, a winery, church services, a unique retail space, and even nightclubs and restaurants. Still, it remains abandoned other than people taking up shelter or sharing their spray paint artwork on the walls.

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About a month ago, the city started requesting ideas from the community again. City Councilman Mark Jeffreys toured the tunnels last year and is interested in what the future may hold for the largest abandoned subway in the country.