Port Angeles Underground – Port Angeles, Washington - Atlas Obscura

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Port Angeles Underground

Tour the original street level of Port Angeles, buried underground in 1914. 

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At the turn of the century, the townsfolk of Port Angeles started pressuring the city council to do something, anything, about the smell.

The flooding of sewage and its accompanying stench in the downtown area was really becoming a problem. In 1914 the town finally could take it no longer and drastic measures were taken, raising the street about 10 to 14 feet so that the sewage remained where it belonged – underground.

Many buildings were torn down but some businesses opted to build a second story in order to stay in business. The street raising was done by sluicing dirt from the adjoining hill into the street via wooden pipes and concrete walls, an engineering feat accomplished, astoundingly, completely by hand.

It is now possible to tour the small remaining portion of the underground and the underground portions of some buildings, starting at the Port Angeles Visitors Center. Part of the tour includes an old shoe store that still has an original Primex foot-measuring device which used X-rays to measure your foot. Some of the tour is underground and some is above-ground. In some of the underground, places you can still see the original hand-mixed concrete retaining wall from 1914.

Know Before You Go

The tour starts with an info session where the tour guide tells fascinating stories of the town's history and shows historical pictures. The tour puts the enormity of the project into perspective. It consists of a casual walk which lasts about two hours and includes remnants of an underground miniature golf course as well as a brothel and a boxing gym.


Currently, the tours have been put on hiatus, call or visit the visitor center/chamber of commerce for more information. 

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February 28, 2013

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