THE WHITE ELEPHANT

Deep beneath the streets of Cincinnati is a series of tunnels and undergrounds stations of a subway that never once ran a fare. It took millions of dollars and an entire city of workers and supporters to build the now deemed “white elephant.” Much of the remaining subway is buried underneath the streets, and portals lay hidden behind vines on the side of the highway. Today the barricaded doors lock in the secrets that the city would rather forget.

The Cincinnati Subway story begins at the Miami-Erie Canal, which ran through Ohio and directly through downtown Cincinnati. The canal was used primarily in the mid-nineteenth century to transport goods and people throughout the state. It was a very primitive form of travel and would take days or weeks to reach a destination. The canal was not maintained in a proper manner and soon brought bugs, disease and even death to the city. The water became incredibly polluted with the stench of dead animals and waste from buildings. In its wake, it brought a medley of different diseases, the worst of which was cholera. Cholera is spread through contaminated water consumption and often doesn’t show any symptoms until hours before death. In 1849, the murky waters were blamed for causing over eight thousand cholera deaths in Cincinnati. This caused massive panic, and citizens would move as far away from the canal as possible. The canal was deemed unprofitable by 1856, and the city had officially abandoned it in 1877. City leaders would find an alternate use for the canal in later years, as it would become a major part of the Cincinnati Subway project.

In the late nineteenth century, Cincinnati started using streetcars as a mass transit system. It was a mere nickel to ride the electric cars, and it only took citizens about one hour to reach their destinations. This was the easiest and fastest way to get around the town. By the early twentieth century, the population grew, and Cincinnati became a booming town. Streetcars burst with people holding on to the railings for dear life. So many vehicles flooded the streets that accidents were a regular occurrence. Pedestrians found it nearly impossible to dart through traffic, and would often become casualties in the roadways. The streetcars started overcrowding the streets trying to keep up with demand. Private companies started offering a large horse-drawn carriage called an omnibus. It was ten cents to ride, but you could get around town much faster than in streetcars. The rough roads were difficult to maneuver in a horse and buggy. The terrain was very rugged and often threw passengers about the carriage. Cincinnati had to find an innovative way to deal with the traffic dilemma.

In 1884, the Cincinnati Graphic ran an article that it thought might bring new ideas for the city’s traffic concerns. According to the Graphic, “The changes which time brings in all things cause many heartaches, but the heartaches of those who cling so fondly to the dead old ditch can in no degree compensate for the malarial headaches of hundreds who must suffer from its influences.” On the cover of the publication was a large illustration of its proposal. It was a steam-powered train driving under the streets of Cincinnati through tunnels that would be built from the canal shell. By this time, the canal was filled with thick mud that hardly resembled water. It was a dried-up cesspool filled with disease and had become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The canal trench was about forty feet wide and would bestow the city with a perfect jump-start for the subway project. This would save the city a lot of money and work from having to dig, as it already had a built-in pathway right through downtown. Though the proposal wouldn’t be seen by the Ohio State legislature for almost thirty years, the Graphic’s proposal would continue to present the most logical way to deal with traffic problems.

In 1911, the city was finally granted the Miami-Erie Canal for use as a subway and to cover with a street. Morale was high for the new project. This would surely make the city’s traffic problem disappear and would drastically cut travel time for commuters of the city. Businesses anticipated the potential of the subway bringing in new customers to their establishments, and help bring the city new life. Assurance that the city would have more visitors and increase population was what the subway had promised. This would make Cincinnati a booming town.

Looking up the Race Station stairs that were never used but are still maintained by the City of Cincinnati. Courtesy Jake Mecklenborg.

After assessing the subway project, the city came up with a $6 million price tag, after numerous cutbacks from the original $12 million. The bond was overwhelmingly passed in 1916, but the federal government had other plans in mind. America had been fighting in the First World War for two years, and funding for the war was very strict. Shortly after citizens approved the ballot, the U.S. government passed a bill that placed a hold on all bonds. Though the bond had been granted for the project, it could not be issued by law, so the subway once again had to wait its turn. When the war finally ended, all bonds were released for use. The problem was that during the war the cost of steel, labor and other materials had more than doubled in price. The cost of steel in 1915 was $55 per ton; in 1919 it has risen to over $105 per ton. The city sat with a $6 million check, and the new estimation of cost would be around $13 million. The city would go ahead with the project, knowing that there was no longer enough money for completion.

Construction on the tunnels finally began following the New Year’s celebration in 1920. The city’s new strategy was to build as much as it could with the money it had, which meant cutting back even more on the fifteen-mile beltway plan. The scheme then seemed to take on a dark and disturbing turn for the worst. When blasting the earth to make a path for the tunnels, no precautions were taken into consideration. People were living very close to the proposed subway path, and when the workers moved into those areas to blast, it caused great havoc. Inhabitants would be sitting in their homes comfortably when the blast would shake the earth and collapse the house on top of them. This became an all-too-often occurrence. Many houses were split in two, and foundations were ruptured. Citizens who were staunch supporters of the subway soon found themselves homeless because of it. It was reported that the subway collapsed and fatally injured several subway workers. Though the bodies of the workers have long been removed, their spirits still roam the empty halls today.

The project slowed as the money started to run out, and it was finally put on hold in 1925 until the city came up with a better plan. By this time this city was in disarray, and Cincinnatians were desperate to just forget the whole thing. The subway then sat abandoned, having accomplished only about 28 percent of its goal. By this time, only a two-mile tunnel through the canal trench, above-ground grading for seven miles, three short tunnels, many overpasses and a few under- and above-ground stations were completed.

The stock market crashed, the Great Depression followed, and the project received no attention for several years. There were many proposals to salvage what was already built and to cut out even more portions of the track to save money, but each one was overwhelmingly shot down by scorned citizens. The lonely subway lay dormant for years while proposal after proposal was turned down. By this time, cars were becoming more popular, so there wasn’t the need for a subway. Personal vehicles had begun to take over roadways, and building and expanding roads had taken first priority. The bond debts would continue to accumulate interest. By the time they were finally paid off in 1966, a total debt of $13,019,982.45 was shelled out. The Cincinnati subway was constructed at the same time as the New York and Chicago subways. Their subways made them two of the busiest cities in America. The possibilities were endless for what the subway could have brought to this city. It was one of Cincinnati’s biggest missed opportunities.

Today the subway is still considered a white elephant. As the years pass by, it is thought of infrequently and mentioned less often. People drive their cars by the remains daily, and most don’t even notice it. Not much remains of the old project, though the city still maintains it. There have been a few proposals through the years for alternate uses such as a nuclear bomb shelter, a wine cellar, monorail, shopping district and an aerospace testing facility—none of which panned out. The seven-mile stretch of above-ground grading was eventually demolished to make way for I-75. This left about two miles of tunnels that are currently located underneath Central Parkway, Hopple Street and Norwood, with the majority being located underneath Central Parkway. A few of the portals can still be seen from I-75 near the Western Hills Viaduct, though the doors have long been barricaded shut to keep out vandals.

One of the few portals still left standing. This is visible from I-75 near the Western Hills Viaduct. Courtesy Jake Mecklenborg.

These locked tunnels hold Cincinnati’s secrets, one of which is the tale of the ghosts that haunt the halls. There are several spirits that have made their presence known underneath the earth, and they are believed to be workers who were killed by the collapsing tunnels. The atmosphere is thick and cold once you descend deep underground. There are no lights to find your path, and things are wildly thrown about by vandals. The halls are still and quiet. The smell is musty and dirty. The walls are damp, and the only sound is water drops hitting puddles. If it’s not scary enough, the thought that ghosts encompass you throughout the darkness sends chills down your spine. Down here the feeling of being watched never goes away. It feels like the tunnels themselves weep with sorrow and a sense of death. Listen closely to hear the cries and screams for help from the fallen workers as they grow louder and closer. With the lack of sight and sound, it’s easy to feel a ghostly presence. Though access to the tunnels is limited, many people who have been down have reported feelings of being watched, followed and touched. The entities are doomed to spend eternity in these lonely tunnels and are desperate to leave their torment behind. They beg to be set free from their eternal prison. They sit and wait patiently to host their next visitors and plead with them to set them free. If you are lucky enough to get one of the rare chances to tour the tunnels, make sure you don’t bring the workers home with you.

The underground Brighton Station outbound platform. This dark tunnel leads to nowhere as spirits encompass you. Courtesy Jake Meckenborg.

HAUNTING ACTIVITY SCALE

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