Mining tunnels throughout Northwest Springfield...

transnorm42 · 0-99 Poster Joined: 24 Jun 2004 Posts: 2 Usergroups: None

Supposedly this is a HUGE intricate system of tunnels that runs for miles and miles and connects to quite a few other drains etc.

I have been told that there are some entrances to it downtown, but they are gated off.

My own knowledge of this system from working at the turkey packing freezer on the Northeast side of springfield just off Kearney. It was owned by Tyson at the time, and they put a bunch of freezers in this old mining tunnel. The freezers only went about 500 feet in, but one guy told me he had to move some stuff on a fork lift to another part of the tunnel, and it was over a mile in. He said some of the guys back there told him that was just the tip of the iceberg.

I suppose that somebody (John Q Hammons? John Morris? Missouri Department of something? City of Springfield?) pwns all this and that the extent of it is a highly gaurded secret.

I also heard that the cave at Doling park (which is now gated off) is somehow connected to this system.

I hope this helps you in your quest for Springifeld's "underground".

White Rabbit · Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:00 pm Post subject:

Hrm. Can you tell us more about the Tyson thing in the mine tunnel?

Shaw · Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2004 7:01 am Post subject:

hmmmm... sounds interesting, but I'm not much on getting smacked in the head with a frozen chicken.... I'm kinda curious as to how far the underground goes....

Spectral · Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2004 12:29 am Post subject:

This sounds very interesting... I'd like to know where these gated drains are downtown though, as it's pretty rare to see that in Springfield. Maybe this is what a friend of mine was rambling about one time... (Most likely not though, heh)

Willard

I will tell you that there has long been a legend of underground tunnels around Springfield. Most likely there were some tunnels up on the north side because there used to be a few mines around the county about 100 years ago. The tunnel connections that have been refered to however are something entirely different. At one time there were tunnels under all the sidewalks downtown. They were tall enough for a man to walk though. They went under all sidewalks in the business districts and were on both sides of the streets. They were originally for the steam pipes and other such utilities and I believe they connected over at the old Springfield Gas and Electric over on Main by the old Texas Hotel (Hotel of Terror). None of the tunnels exist in the main downtown area as far as I know. Mainly because of the construction that had taken place back in the 1960's and 1970's. I do not know if there ever was a system for Commercial Street or not. As far as Dolling Cave is concerned, it doesn't connect to the tunnels, but it does however connect with Fantastic Caverns if you go back far enough. Though it takes some crawling and sqirming and most normal sized people wouldn't be able to fit through. Anyway if you'd like to know more about other parts of Springfield, just let me know. I'm full of old useless info about the town. Smile

White Rabbit · Last edited by White Rabbit on Wed Apr 27, 2005 3:02 pm; edited 1 time in total

Willard

Well granted... all caves if you think about it are connected in Missouri. But Dolling after mentioned the distance, I'm going to have to do more digging and research... as far as a man sized connection goes. Anyway as far as I know the Seville most likely had a tunnel going to it. I found this information out from Bill and Morton Lines. Mort is 90 and at one time was vice pres. of Lines music downtown. Bill is his son and he's in his late 60's and he took over the business later on. Anyway they are filled with all sorts of fun info and facts. You can find Bill at Piano Craft where he now works. I don't know his schedual but just go in and ask for Bill Lines. He loves talking about history so if it's old tunnels your interested in, he'd be more then glad to talk to you about it.

White Rabbit

I might have to do that. I'd love to find out where some tunnels were for sure downtown and see if any of them are still around.

TR146x

I’ve been in the steam tunnels downtown. There is a way to get backstage at the Gillois(sp) by using the underground tunnels, I’ve done it twice.

If my memory is correct, one of the Haseltine offspring runs tours of the Jordan Creek Tunnels. This was years ago however.

Remember the mine where the downtown park is now? I’m told the tunnels that branch out from it go for miles. (One legend said all the way to Kickapoo.) Obviously they are now completely inaccessible, and were to be access only by experienced divers when I was a kid. Our family business was only two blocks from it (904 E. Trafficway, it’s a parking lot now, FU JQ.) I remember once, when I was a kid, they dumped ink in the shaft, and it burned for a day. They dumped everything in there. During the project to widen Grand, they dumped houses and trees.

I am told that the tunnels under Cinnamon Square were part of this complex, but I highly doubt it.

SandMan

Most of the "tunnels" downtown under the sidewalk are either long filled in, blocked so that under the sidewalk is a part of the buildings basement (some of the Seville is like this) or there were never any in that area. I understand that a few sections are still some what open though.

I didn't know that tour was still going, I remember taking a few years ago. Some of the old building along the now covered creek have access into the drain/creek for a number of reason. Of course many of you already know that. Wink

RV driver

KickEmInDaBitchDitch

lolabelle

I believe the park he's referencing could be the Jordan Valley Park, though I'm not sure if it was around in 2005.

And the burning mine mentioned is actually the old quarry/landfill that used to be at National and E Trafficway. I believe the newspaper used to dump ink in there, though that could be completely untrue. Anyway, a fire broke out in one of the shafts back in the 70s and burned for quite a while. This site was filled in during the 2000's and is now the green space directly east of Hammons Field.

Here's an old article on the place: http://thelibrary.org/lochist/postcards/lime_quarries.cfm

lolabelle

And yes, Willard is the "end all be all" of Springfield historical knowledge. He's given me soo many answers over the years. I am jealous but thankful of his knowledge! Smile

Nicotti

Actually it wasn't a fire in a shaft, it was a landfill by then and some of the stuff they had tossed in there over the years caught fire.

Article about the history of the quarry here.