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The Tunnels
Savannah's historic district is built on an antebellum storm drain system that was
installed under the streets in the 1850s. Slave labor was used to dig up the
center of the avenues and brick drainage was installed. Brick walls eighteen
inches thick, with a forty-eight inch opening, drained the sewerage and storm water
into the river. On each ramp that leads down to River Street, large openings
can be seen in the bulkhead; storm water would flow right down the ramp carrying
with it the city's sewerage.
A series of tunnels existed long before this system was built. These tunnels
were first built by the Guale Indians who lived on this bluff for 15,000 years before
the arrival of Europeans. Pirates, smugglers and native traders used these
tunnels to store contraband from the Spanish and English authorities. Many
tunnels extend to buildings on the bluff. Churchill'sPub on Bay Street and
the Pirates' House at East Broad and Bay are just two of many buildings with tunnels.
The "Sons of Liberty" or "Liberty Boys" used the tunnels until 1782 during British
occupation of the city. Descendants of the original families used the tunnels
again during the "War of the Northern Aggression."
After the Stono Rebellion (sometimes called Cato's Conspiracy or Cato's Rebellion)
in South Carolina - in which rebellious slaves massacred
hundreds of plantation owners and their families in the 1820s - escape tunnels were
installed in many homes in Savannah, built by slaves who were brought from the
inland plantations to perform the work.
The most extensive use of these underground passages was during the yellow fever
epidemics. Contrary to some reports, the dead were not carried though the
tunnels, but rather, the living used the passages to get around the city.
One such tunnel was discovered recently under Bull Street near the Sorrell-Weed
House. The owner discovered it when excavating the floor of the basement during
a major renovation.
The men who ran the city used the tunnels. Candler Hospital and Telfair Hospital,
at opposite ends of Forsyth Park, are connected with an underground passage.
The jail, courthouse and custom house were all connected underground.
After the epidemics, city council members voted funds to shore up the existing tunnels
and to build additional passgeways as needed. Thye men who ran the town would
be able to go from building to building without having to be on the same streets
as carts laden with yellow fever victims. So the living used the tunnels,
while the epidemic raged on the streets above. During the epidemics, half
the population evacuated and the other half stayed shut up in their homes.
Someone had to stay behind and run things, so to insure against contracting the
fever, judges, doctors, city officials and ordinary citizens used the tunnels to
move about and avoid the death above.
The Pulaski House Hotel (today a bank) stood on Johnson Square and the original
two-level basement still exists. Tunnels lead from it to the river and to
the Old City Hotel (today Moon River Brewing Co.) on West Bay Street. There
are many passages in the City Market area and most lead to the bluff. Even
during Prohibition, liquor was stored and transported by way of the tunnels.
The basement of the Marshall House Hotel on Broughton Street was a speak-easy and
several tunnels led to other like establishments. |
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