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All the United States California Los Angeles Underground Tunnels of Los Angeles
Underground Tunnels of Los Angeles is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Underground Tunnels of Los Angeles

During prohibition, corrupt city officials ran drinking dens under the streets of Downtown Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, California

Added By
Rachel James
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Los Angeles Tunnels   Courtesy of Alissa Walker
Los Angeles Tunnels   Courtesy of Alissa Walker
Los Angeles Tunnels   Courtesy of Alissa Walker
Los Angeles Tunnels   Courtesy of Alissa Walker
Los Angeles Tunnels   Courtesy of Alissa Walker
Los Angeles Hall of Records - Underground Tunnel to Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration   Michael Smith
Elevator to the easiest entrance   JohnnyXmas / Atlas Obscura User
Angelenos practice an air raid drill in the former Pacific Electric subway in 1958.   Courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library Photograph Collection
Tunnel runs 100 underground to the Hall of Records   turnerkeoka7 / Atlas Obscura User
  Avoiding Regret
Wall mural in the speakeasy below King Eddy   Avoiding Regret
Platform level, Subway Terminal Building   Avoiding Regret
Old tunnel of the Hollywood Subway   Avoiding Regret
someone forgot to lock the hall of records door   jondi letnap / Atlas Obscura User
Found it!!   jondi letnap / Atlas Obscura User
Los Angeles Hall of Records - Underground Tunnel to Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration   Avoiding Regret
Los Angeles Hall of Records - Underground Tunnel to Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration   Avoiding Regret
Los Angeles Hall of Records - Underground Tunnel to Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration  
Los Angeles Hall of Records - Underground Tunnel to Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration  
Los Angeles Tunnels   Courtesy of Alissa Walker
Los Angeles Tunnels   Courtesy of Alissa Walker
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About

While the rest of the country was forced to go dry, underneath Downtown Los Angeles the party never stopped.

Despite prohibition laws, 11 miles of service tunnels became passageways to basement speakeasies with innocuous fronts above ground. Patrons were able to move about under the city, boozing it up without a care in the world, while the Mayor's office ran the supply of hootch.

King Eddy Saloon, an establishment that has been alive and kicking on 5th and Main since the 1900s, hid in plain sight fronting as a piano store. Luckily, local officials took no issue with King Eddy's sudden interest in music, and the business not only survived, but prospered. Now an official saloon once more, its basement still remains part of the tunnel system, littered with crumbling brick lines and graffiti murals.

Aside from the service tunnels, there are also abandoned subway and equestrian tunnels from the days before personal vehicles began clogging up LA's city streets. There are stories of these tunnels being used by police to transport prisoners, bank security to move large sums of cash safely, and both coroners and mobsters to store bodies. Now they are mostly closed off, but some are still accessible and are used as film locations, easy shortcuts by city employees between buildings, and a place for runners to train on the rare occasion of bad weather.

To explore the former highway of the LA underground, you must slip behind the Hall of Records on Temple Street and locate an easy-to-miss elevator. You’ll be transported down into a subterranean passage filled with mysterious street art, rusted machinery, and iron gates that limit your exploration to areas deemed earthquake safe. Officially, the tunnels are closed to the public.

Related Tags

Tunnels Architectural Oddities Subterranean Sites Architecture

Community Contributors

Added By

Rachel

Edited By

Jaszmina Szendrey, racheldoyle, Avoiding Regret, Meg...

  • Jaszmina Szendrey
  • racheldoyle
  • Avoiding Regret
  • Meg
  • ravedog
  • jondi letnap
  • turnerkeoka7
  • JohnnyXmas

Published

February 24, 2012

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Sources
  • http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/09/local/me-then9
  • http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-sweeps-la-underground-malkoff,0,6432224.story
  • http://www.avoidingregret.com/2017/06/the-end-of-line-at-subway-terminal.html
Underground Tunnels of Los Angeles
320 W Temple St
Los Angeles, California, 90012
United States
34.055848, -118.244728
Get Directions

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