I discovered the site Atlas Obscura last week. I wish I had discovered it earler, because as an avid(ish) traveler, a resource like this is 100% necessary. Travelling aside, probably the best part of Atlas Obscura is that you can use it’s countless articles to learn about great secrets within the city that you live in. So this week, I decided to use the site to learn about some underground mysteries that exist across the United States. I’ve always been fascinated with the underground workings of a city, whether it be tunnels or full on cities existing below my feet (i.e. Old New York from Futurama) The secrets below New York City are plenty (go watch the documentary Dark Days if you haven’t already) so instead i’ve shifted my focus to two different cities.

First, the city in which I spent my first twenty years, Los Angeles. I am completely clueless when it comes to the going ons of underground Los Angeles. Frankly, I only know of a subway that exists (a pretty useless subway, if you compare it to that of New York City.) In this Atlas Obscura article Here, we have a full on 11 mile connected set of tunnels. These tunnels were used during the prohibition to transport booze during the prohibiton. Along with that, there are stories of these tunnels being used to move other various illegal items: prisoners, drugs, large sums of cash. Sadly, the tunnels are closed to the public—which to me means that some activity very well could still be happening down below!

Next, we have a massive undertaking that took place in Texas (where else?) This Superconducting Super Collider sounds like a pretty super serious scientific something-or-other. And that’s exactly what it was. Though, costing roughly $11 billion—it proved to be a bit too epensive to complete—and quickly became a superfluous superconduction super collider. Now, what remains, is a giant underground hollow cement dome, with connected tunnels. Totaling at 14 miles, this collosal failure is now owned by a chemical engineering company. Let’s see what happens with it. Sadly, like that above, it is closed to the public.

Atlas Obscura is awesome. I can’t wait to use it to plan my next vacation, or even my next day trip around (or under) New York!

hb.