Cincinnati Subway

Cincinnati Subway — In the basement of the American city of Cincinnati, there is a huge mystery of abandoned tunnels that were supposed to be used as subway lines, but the best part is that many of its residents are unaware of their existence.

One hundred years ago, Cincinnati, Ohio, decided to build a subway tunnel system. But, unfortunately, Cincinnati tunnels were abandoned even before being used for the first time, making the Cincinnati subway a national gossip.

Cincinnati tunnels

Cincinnati underground subway

Cincinnati was, at that time, one of the 10 largest cities in the United States. The leaders of this city came up with the idea of ​​building their own underground railway after seeing an illustration in Cincinnati's Chart in 1884. It illustrated some canals that had been drained as they were becoming a habitat for harmful mosquitoes. The solution was to cover them by a street which allowed all the train traffic to pass through Cincinnati underground subway channels. They were so admired by this illustration that they decided to create a similar proposal for the Miami and Erie Canal.

Subway downtown Cincinnati — In 1910 the project was devised to build the new Cincinnati metro, a 26-kilometre underground system surrounding the downtown. Most city residents gave their approval to the project, and construction finally began in 1920. Henry Thomas Hunt led the project, and in 1911 the Ohio State Legislature leased a portion of the canal for construction. The plan was to build an underground branch that led to the centre of the city. At Brighton and Saint Bernard streets, the Cincinnati subway was to surface and span the Ohio River.

The Municipal Council authorized 6 million in bonds, with an interest rate of 4.25% to defray construction expenses. The population agreed to allocate such an amount to the construction of the Cincinnati metro. However, the first setback was not long in coming. The United States was entering the First World War, so the work stopped since, at that time, the issuance of bonds was not allowed.

So just three years after the construction began, the work was abandoned, and the main reasons for this being the increase in costs after the war, the constant political disputes and the Great Depression and it become a Cincinnati abandoned subway. At the end of the war, construction work was resumed, although part of this construction was cancelled with an increase in construction price. It soon became clear that the original plan to build a new Cincinnati subway had failed. At that moment, politics entered the scene. There were numerous fights between the different political parties that did nothing but run the project even further.

In January 1929, the mayor of Cincinnati suspended the Cincinnati Rapid Transit Commission in charge of the project and took control. Every effort was made to raise enough funds to finish the works, but a new misstep made it impossible; the Wall Street crash of 1929. At that time, cars were also beginning to become more and more popular, and that only served as an argument to the critics who were against the construction of the Cincinnati subway system. But people, despite all the details that had occurred, still believed in the construction of that underground Cincinnati railway, but, unfortunately, a new setback destroyed any hope. World War II and the Great Depression ended any opportunity to complete the project.

Cincinnati abandoned subway

The result was that after the time invested, almost 50 years, the money spent and even the lives of some workers that the project took, everything was in vain, and there was a debt of 13 million dollars that was not paid until 1966.  The only good news in this whole story is that the Cincinnati metro is still in good condition and not completely closed. Today, the metro of Cincinnati subway tunnels are open to the public twice a year, at the expense of the local museum and the Rhine Foundation. However, most Cincinnatians have never heard of what is right under their feet.

Cincinnati subway

Cincinnati underground subway

Cincinnati abandoned subway

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Cincinnati Subway

Abandoned subway tunnels

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Underground Cincinnati tunnels

Located under the busy streets of Central Parkway is a mysterious and little known place, Cincinnati has been dubbed the largest abandoned subway station in the country.

Source | Wikipedia | Photos | Zfein.com