From caves, secret tunnels and odd dwellings there’s a lot of mystery and lore surrounding things found in the subterranean world. I’m your host, Leah…I’m Phil…and I’m Steve. Today we bring you strange stories from beneath the surface. This is Season Five, Episode 1: UNDERGROUND.
In September of 2022 my wife and I, along with my sister and brother-in-law, were visiting our cousins in the U.K. We stayed for a couple of days in Wales, one of the four parts of the U.K. The countryside was stunning, and we were charmed by a lovely couple named Adrian and Rosie Carr. They are my cousin’s son’s mother and father in law. Rosie was kind enough to take us sightseeing. “I want to show you a special place called The Big Dig,” said Rosie. She went on to explain that it was a museum dedicated to Welsh coal mining. What she didn’t tell us was that we were actually going to go down into an abandoned coal mine, some 300 feet down! At first we thought, “Oh, OK, Cool!” But then they took us into a room and fitted us out with miners gear including hard hats with lanterns, a miners belt and backpack, and an emergency oxygen supply. Also, they took up our phones and cameras “They could cause an explosion down there, heh heh,” explained a jolly retired miner who was conducting the tour. And then the big cage elevator came up to our level, the same elevator that I had seen in How Green Was My Valley, October Sky, and other coal mining movies. I took a look at my wife and saw that she was about to panic. I walked over to her and whispered that she didn’t have to go down if she didn’t want to. She replied that because her grandfather had been a coal miner, that she felt she should, but she was nervous. We stepped into the cage, and I held her close as we descended into the dark ground.
Fortunately, the mine shafts and passages were equipped with electric lights. When we stepped out of the cage elevator, we were in a decent sized area that was tall enough to stand upright. But as our guide led us along, he gave specific warnings that several of the passages were quite low. We had to duck our heads as we were led along. There were probably fifteen people in our tour group along with three or four retired miners. They explained to us the process of chiseling and pick-axing coal out of the seams, a few of which were pointed out to us. I was surprised at how glowingly these retired miners spoke of the difficult jobs they had. “The best job in the world, I would go back again tomorrow!” they exclaimed. We learned that the comradery formed by a group of men working together on a
difficult task created a very tight bond among the miners. It was very common for them to sing together as they headed off to work in the mornings and back home in the evenings. In all, we probably stayed underground for about thirty minutes. We were happy to be back on top again, but very glad to have been afforded the opportunity to go underground.
On our show today, we are going to be exploring some unique underground strangeness.
Erdstall Tunnels
Throughout the world it is not uncommon to find abandoned tunnels of various sizes and configurations. The great majority of these have known origins and well-defined purposes. However, throughout Europe and especially in the mountainous Alpine regions of Austria and southern Germany there exists hundreds of what has become known as the mysterious Erdstall Tunnels. They are mysterious because no one knows for sure who dug them or why they exist.
According to an article in Atlas Obscura, the word Erdstall is loosely defined from German for Earth Stable and can also mean Mined Tunnel. However, these Erdstalls in question may have the appearance of those from various types of mines, but there is no known mineral here to extract. They are mine-like tunnels, but without the minerals. A separate article from amusingplanet.com suggests that the name Erdstall can also be translated as simply Place Under The Earth. So, what are they?
These articles detail that the Erdstall Tunnels are carved into smooth oval shapes, either horizontally or vertically, and tend to be quite narrow. Another peculiar detail is the existence of so-called choke points known as schlupfs or slip outs. These extremely tight transition points tend to connect upper and lower levels of the tunnel or occasionally parallel levels. In addition, there is only one entrance to the tunnel usually tucked away in an old settlement or hidden in the forest. This greatly restricts airflow through the tunnel. One tunnel entrance was found in the kitchen of an old farmhouse.
Measuring between twenty and fifty meters in length (65 t0 164 ft), the Erdstall Tunnels are very low requiring adults to bend over and, in some cases, even crawl on all fours in order to travel through them. The choke points are so narrow that it is difficult for some adults to squirm through.
OK, so we know what they are, but what about who built them and why? Well, that’s the mystery. No written record of the construction of Erdstall Tunnels is known to exist. In addition, any close examination of the tunnels reveals no clues as to their purpose. But there is a lot of speculation.
A few medieval tools have been recovered from the tunnels which suggest they may date to the Middle Ages some 700 to 1,000 years ago, but this is not definite. The tunnels are too small to use for storage, there is no sign that they were used for mining, and they would make a poor place for human habitation. They are not tombs, as no human remains have ever been found in them. The only somewhat plausible theory was they were used as temporary hiding places to shelter from marauding tribes. The idea is that peasant farmers could take shelter in the tunnels while the raiding hordes passed overhead. One major problem with this theory is that the tunnels only had one entrance which greatly limited their oxygen supply.
Some have suggested that the tunnels may have had a spiritual purpose. The tight choke points have been likened to the birth canal, and the process of squirming through them may represent some type of new spiritual birth or new life. More recent folklore from the Austrian mountain people suggest that the Erdstall were built by goblins. Some suggest that they may have been constructed as way stations for deceased souls or as hideouts for ghosts and demons.
A collective of researchers known as the Working Group for Erdstall Research are committed to discovering the truth behind the mysterious tunnels. Each year they convene to share their findings. Using new methods such as 3D surveying, this group hopes to someday find the true meaning of the Erdstall passageways.
Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, Colombia
You might recall our Season 4 Episode 12 titled Odd Churches. We discussed several very odd places of worship in that episode. We touched briefly on a few that were actually underground, including one in Wieliczka, (Ve leetz ka) Poland where miners in a working salt mine had carved out a series of small chapels in the salt. In fact, even Poland’s favorite son Pope John Paul II had held services there. Well, those small chapels are nice, but they likely pale in comparison to the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira, (Sip a keera) Colombia.
According to an article on npr.com the Zipaquira Salt Cathedral is Colombia’s most famous church. It is located some 600 feet below ground in an abandoned salt mine in the town of Zipaquira which is just outside of the capital city, Bogota. It is an architectural wonder. The shaft leading down to the church at first feels dark and dank with the faint smell of sulfur. But as you descend further below ground, the shaft opens up and Roman Catholic statuary appears.
There are three naves depicting the birth, life, and death of Jesus. Each of these opens onto the gigantic domed basilica which is lit by a huge chandelier. At the end of the cathedral is an enormous floor to ceiling cross which is backlit by purple lights. Oh yes, and all of this, the cross, chandelier, and statuary are all made of salt.
Furthermore, this cathedral isn’t just for tourists to gawk at, it is an active living church. The pews (also made of salt) are jammed to capacity for each mass. The acoustics are incredible as evidenced when the church’s choir breaks into a hymn or chorus.
The first part of the sanctuary was built in the 1930s by miners as a place to pray. As mining was dangerous work, they would pray for protection from toxic gasses, explosions, and other accidents. By the 1950s most of the salt had been mined out, so the Catholic Church, which is very powerful in this country, persuaded the government to construct the cathedral in the empty mine. By the 1990s however, the original cathedral was deemed unstable and unsafe. So, the government sent in architects who determined that going down another 200 feet would provide more stability. Thus, a new cathedral was constructed deep into the abandoned salt mine with the help of retired miners and sculptors.
The church is breathing new life into the local economy as tourists and religious pilgrims flock to visit the Salt Cathedral. On average, more than 2,000 visitors per day come to worship in the cathedral or marvel at its amazing architecture.
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World Wars I & II Bombs
The first half of the 20th Century was certainly a violent time in Europe. The Great War, the largest conflict the world had seen to that point, raged from 1914 to 1918. This war was also inappropriately nicknamed The War To End All Wars. Just twenty-one years later it was renamed World War I for in that year, 1939, Germany invaded Poland beginning World War II. This war lasted until 1945 and saw the deaths of more than 50 million people, more than double that of World War 1.
These two conflicts saw the first use of aerial bombing. Thousands of war planes dropped millions of tons of munitions onto military and civilian targets throughout the continent. Of course, the damage during the wars was tremendous. It has now been nearly eighty years since the end of WW II, but the damage is still being done. You see, as many as 10% of the bombs dropped back then didn’t explode. They just sunk into the ground and are still there.
According to bbc.com there are still thousands of unexploded bombs in Germany, France, The U.K. and in every country where fighting and bombing occurred. Several times a year in Berlin neighborhoods have to be evacuated as bombs are discovered on construction sites and other work projects. In France, farmers pay close attention as their plows routinely unearth old ordinance. In Wales alone about 20 bombs are located each year. One French official estimated that it will be 500 years before all the old explosives are found.
In the years since the war ended several thousand people have been killed or injured by latent explosives. Among the dead were members of bomb squad units who were attempting to defuse the devices. Today most bomb squad units utilize robots to do the most dangerous work. Yet, civilians are still subject to these hidden bombs.
An article in DailyMail.com details the unfortunate 2021 case of a British couple and their family members who were on a post-marriage trip to the Carpathian Mountains near the Ukraine – Hungarian border. This was before the current conflict arose in Ukraine. Norbert Varga and his wife Lidia were hiking and camping with about a dozen friends and family, celebrating their recent wedding. Lidia was originally from Ukraine and was happy to be spending time back in her homeland. The group was enjoying the idyllic mountain scenery from the warmth of their campfire. Suddenly the dream trip was transformed into a nightmare by an explosion. It appears that their campfire had been built right over a buried World War I bomb. The fire became hot enough to detonate the buried explosive. According to the dailymail article, the bomb went off while they were telling stories and drinking tea. Lidia received severe wounds as shrapnel tore into her face, hands, and legs. She would survive, but unfortunately her brother Myroslav and another friend would not. The article contains a photo that was taken just a few minutes before the explosion. The beautiful scene of young people enjoying time together is haunting, as they had no idea of the horror that was about to occur.
Their campsite had been a battlefield in both world wars. It is thought that this bomb was from the Brusilov Offensive, a bloody campaign waged by Russia against Austria – Hungary in 1916. This bomb had been underground for 105 years before it exploded.
Time Capsules
According to an article from familytreemagazine.com, back in 1876 the United States was celebrating its centennial. Part of the festivities that year included a World’s Fair held in Philadelphia. A journalist named Anna Diehm (Deem) had the idea of collecting important items from the celebration and locking them up in a fireproof cabinet and sealing it up for one hundred years. These items included a scroll signed by members of the 44th Congress, an album with autographs of other prominent men, a gold pen from poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and photos by photographer Matthew Brady. President Ulysses S Grant oversaw the ceremonial closing of the cabinet which was to be stored in the U.S. Capitol until 1976. In that year, President Gerald Ford was on hand for the ceremonial opening of the cabinet. The items had all been well preserved.
Anna Diehm’s idea of a time capsule set off a frenzy of time capsule activity around the country. Unfortunately, the great majority of these were not stored in containers or locations that would allow for perfect preservation. According to an article from mentalfloss.com, one self-proclaimed time capsule nerd named Matt Novak claims that 99% of the time capsules wind up in disappointment. The items are either mundane or else they are unrecognizable. “But, there is always that 1% though, that keeps us in anticipation,” Novak says, which leads us to this story.
1957 was quite a year! Of course, the classic Chevrolet Belaire came out. My grandmother had a pink one. It was also the year of Sputnik, and, oh yeah, it was the year I was born. And in Tulsa Oklahoma it was the year of their 50th birthday as a city and state.
The city of Tulsa decided to celebrate its birthday with a competition, and the winner would receive a brand new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere with only 4 miles on the odometer. Why was this car chosen? According to the chairman of the 57 Tulsarama Golden Jubilee Celebration Committee, “The Plymouth Belvedere was an advanced product of American Industrial Ingenuity with the kind of lasting appeal that will still be in style 50 years from now.”
Why 50 years from now? Well, there was a catch to the contest, the winner would not be announced for 50 years. That’s right, the winner of Miss Belvedere, as the car came to be called, would be the person who most accurately guessed what the population of Tulsa would be in 2007 which would be the city’s and state’s centennial.
More than 800 people entered the competition, jotting down their estimate of the city’s future population on postcards mailed into the committee. These postcards, along with some other Tulsa memorabilia were buried in a sealed steel container behind the car.
A huge, reinforced concrete and steel container was constructed beneath the pavement of the Tulsa County Courthouse. On June 15th 1957 it was sealed shut with Miss Belvedere waiting patiently inside. The keys were sitting on the driver’s seat ready for the new owner to start her up and take her home. Some prominent citizens wrote their names in felt tip marker on the car’s hubcaps.
In 2007 as the date neared for opening the vault a great amount of excitement bubbled in Tulsa. One gentleman named Forest Brokow who had recently retired as the news director of the local NBC affiliate had been working at the station as a teenager in 1957 when the car was buried. When interviewed, he stated, “Whoever gets this car is going to own a pristine automobile, 50 years old, a classic, and worth a lot more than the $2,000 that it sold for in 1957.”
Finally on June 14, 2007 the big day came. A crowd of some 9,000 people gathered in downtown Tulsa to see the vault opened up and, some perhaps hoping that they might be declared the new owner. But their joy turned to disappointment when workers broke open the side of the vault and out poured hundreds of gallons of water. For all of their nuclear-age optimism and forward planning, the city fathers in 1957 had neglected to make the vault water proof. Poor Miss Belvedere had been submerged in seeping groundwater for decades.
A tow truck was employed to pull the car out of the vault. The extent of the damage was immediately seen by all. The car had become a complete rust bucket. The rear suspension had collapsed, and the frame was sitting on the axle. The interior was totally unrecognizable sludge. Surprisingly, the names were still visible on the hubcaps.
It wasn’t a total loss, however, as the steel container with the postcards and some other items, including a savings bond which was now worth $700, was still intact. So who won the contest? That distinction goes to one Raymond Humbertson. Unfortunately, he had died in 1979. But he did have a 95-year-old sister named Catherine Johnson still living. She was declared the winner.
Of course, being the winner of a rusted hunk of metal that was somewhat shaped like an automobile was not all that glorious. But then in stepped a gentleman named Dwight Foster who owned a rust removal company. Foster took on the project of restoring Miss Belvedere, not to drivable condition, but at least make her presentable. She now sits in the Historic Automobile Attractions Museum in Roscoe, Illinois.
Having learned their lesson about groundwater, the city of Tulsa has encased a Plymouth Prowler in an above ground pressurized vault which will be opened in 2057. This story came from the Facebook page of a group called Top Secret Customs and Restorations.
Not to end this section on a down note, the familytreemagazine.com article mentioned above did detail an amazing 2014 find. In December of that year workers were repairing a water leak under the Massachusetts State Capital building in Boston when they came across a stout metal box near the building’s cornerstone. It turns out that the box was laid there in 1795 by none other than American Revolution heroes Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. The box contained several 18th century coins, medals bearing the image of George Washington, and a silver plaque that had been engraved by Revere himself. All items were in good condition. So, you see, you never know. That time capsule buried in your town just might be the one percenter!
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New Dead Sea Scroll Finds
In our Season 4 Episode 14 titled Outlandish Artifacts we talked a little bit about the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are the ancient manuscripts that included copies of most Old Testament Books and other materials related to Hebrew culture and Judaism. They were discovered in a series of caves beginning in 1947 when a shepherd boy was looking for a lost sheep. Well, in 2021 it was announced that an additional set of scrolls have been found in a different cave in the region. And, unlike the other Dead Sea Scrolls, archeologists believe they know who wrote these new finds.
According to an article in conversation.com, in 132 A.D. a man named Simon bar Kochba (Coke-ba) lead a small but determined group of Jews in a rebellion against the Roman ruling authority. Like earlier Jewish revolts this one didn’t go particularly well. There was something a bit different about these folks though. Rather than Hebrew, these were Greek speaking Jews. Evidently, they had at one time left their homeland and were living in a section of Egypt where Greek was spoken, and had returned to Israel to fight against the Romans.
When their revolt faltered, these people retreated to a cave high up on a cliff overlooking the Dead Sea. The entrance to the cave was 250 feet down from the top of the canyon ridge and over 300 feet up from the bottom. The canyon walls are nearly perpendicular, so these folks must have used rope ladders to access the cave. On the top of the ridge archeologists have located the remains of a Roman encampment. It is likely that Roman soldiers pursued the rebels to this point and then just waited until they starved to death.
Today the cave is known as the Cave of Horrors. In 1955 when the cave was first accessed, researchers were greeted by dozens of skeletons, hence the name. These skeletons showed no signs of battle trauma. The rebels were very fierce in their determination not to be captured by or surrender to the Romans, so they stayed in the cave and wasted away.
In 2021 a more thorough examination of this cave revealed many personal items and a set of scrolls. The scrolls were written in Greek and contained portions of the Old Testament books Nahum and Zechariah. In fact, these are some of the oldest known fragments of the Old Testament books known to exist. Archeologists were excited about the find, and they say it raises the possibility that even more scrolls may exist.
Weird Things Found On Construction Sites
We recently ran across a couple of articles about weird items that were found on construction sites. One is from lovethegarden.com and the other from ranker.com. Now earlier we mentioned that in Berlin it is very common to find unexploded bombs leftover from the world wars of the past century. But did you know that there is a place in the U.S that also has this issue?
It seems that in Orlando, Florida a real estate developer decided to build a new housing development on an area that had been used for target practice by the military during WW II. You guessed it. During construction of the streets and homes several unexploded bombs were uncovered. After the first few were located the U.S. Army stepped in and did a thorough (we hope) exercise to clear the area of live bombs. We hope they didn’t miss any.
Now back to those two articles concerning weird construction site finds. Several of these finds involved unearthing long forgotten cemeteries. These include a project in Manhatton to build a new federal building which turned up a cemetery from the late 1600s, an apartment complex in Philadelphia which had been the site of an old church and graveyard, and a swimming pool in New Orleans which was on the site of an 18th century cemetery.
Other odd articles from construction sites include whale bones under a light rail dig in Edinburgh, an ancient Mayan ball court under a housing project in Mexico, a 1500 year old Byzantine church underneath a highway in Israel, a fossilized wooly mammoth tusk under an apartment building in Seattle, and a medieval hospital underneath an Apple store in Madrid.
Though not exactly underground, this item mentioned in the article was too cute to leave out. In 2015 a contractor in England named Lewis Shaw was demolishing an old house to make way for a new one. While tearing down the old chimney he noticed a piece of paper floating out. Upon picking it up he was stunned to see that it was a letter to Santa written by a little boy in 1943. The letter had been placed in the chimney for Father Christmas to read.
“Dear Father Christmas,
Please can you send me a Rupert annual, and a drum box of chalks, soldiers and Indians, slippers and any little toys you have to spare.
Love, David”
Lewis began enquiring with the longtime neighbors who knew who David was and that he was still living in the area. Happily, Lewis returned the letter to David who was quite surprised to see it.
The Dwarfie Stane
Off the northern coast of Scotland is located an island group known as the Shetlands. These islands are perhaps most notable for the diminutive Shetland Ponies who were bred there. They are also known for the Shetland Sheep Dog or Sheltie, an energetic dog originally bred to heard sheep, but has also become a popular pet. But there is something else notable about the Shetland Islands; a very unusual rock, the Dwarfie Stane. Stane is an Old English word for stone.
The Dwarfie Stane is a nearly 28 foot long rock that sits partially buried in a gently sloping barren valley on a small Shetland island called Hoy. Rather than being an outcrop of some rocky under surface, this stone appears to have been deposited here by retreating glaciers from the last ice age. So, what’s the big deal about a glaciated rock? Lots of places have them. What makes this rock special is that some 5,000 years ago, this rock was hollowed out by an unknown people.
According to a website called orkneyjar.com, what makes the Dwarfie Stane remarkable is the fact that the massive stone was hollowed out using nothing but stone or antler tools, muscle power, and patience. A round opening was cut into the west side of the rock and then a large chamber was hollowed out of the red sandstone. Inside the chamber, two level bed-like areas were cut. These beds are much too small for anyone of normal stature, thus the rock has become the source of an abundance of dwarf folklore on Hoy island, hence the name Dwarfie Stane.
The stone’s resemblance to a hermit’s hovel has led some to believe that it was the home of hermits. In fact, people were once in the habit of leaving offerings at the hermits door. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that hermits may have occasionally dwelt there, but that was not likely the Dwarfie Stane’s original purpose.
Most archaeologists believe that the Dwarfie Stane was actually a rock cut tomb. If so, it would be the only one known to exist in the British Isles. There are other rock tombs with similar features located in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, but this is the only one known in the U.K.
The Dwarfie Stane has been the source of much folklore in the region. In his novel, Sir Walter Scott alludes to the stone’s function as the favorite residence of Trollid, a dwarf famous in the Viking sagas. (The word Troll is derived from Trollid.) These sagas would have been well known by the Vikings who invaded the British Isles in 795. They recorded in their journals that when they came upon the stone it was still sealed. They managed to open it and found nothing inside.
The Dwarfie Stane remains a mysterious sight and is a popular stop for the handful of tourists who manage to travel to this remote island in the North Atlantic.
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The Abandoned Cincinnati Subway
Now back in the U.S. we head to the famous Ohio River city of Cincinnati. Trade from the river and numerous canals helped to make Cincinnati one of the ten largest cities in the U.S. in 1900. But with the advent of rail, the canals had become less important to the city. (Fun Fact, can you name the enormous manufacturing company that makes its home in Cincinnati? Procter and Gambel) Two canals, the Miami and the Erie, cut right through the heart of the city. These two had become problematic as the breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other diseases. People had also begun dumping unwanted junk into them and they were turning into eyesores.
In 1916 the good citizens of Cincinnati voted overwhelmingly on a plan that would turn the old canals into a subway train system. The 16 mile project was budgeted to cost $6,000,000. However, before ground could be broken on the project, the U.S. entered World War I. By the time the war was over there was a shortage of construction supplies and costs had skyrocketed. Despite these delays, two miles of the underground section was completed in 1923, but by then the entire budget had been exhausted and the project lay unfinished.
In 1926 the mayor of Cincinnati tried to revive the project by building a highway over the top of a section of the already completed subway. He estimated that it would take another ten million dollars to complete the subway, but the voters were reluctant to “throw good money after bad”. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 dried up any possible source of funding for several years. A new study in 1948 resulted in mothballing the subway project for good.
For the past 75 years various proposals have been made as to possible uses for the two miles of unused subway. During the Cold War 50s it was thought that it could perhaps be a workable bomb shelter. Other proposals have included a shopping mall, a groovy nightclub, and a massive wine cellar.
Today, the two mile section which includes four stations still lies dormant under the Queen City’s streets. The entrances are all sealed off and the public is discouraged from entering the abandoned underground.
Coober Peddy
Have you ever lived in a house that had a basement? If you have, you probably have noticed that the basement stays cooler than the upper floors of the house. This can be particularly nice if you live in a hot climate. The cool basement can make a nice place to retreat from the heat of the day. But what if your whole house was a basement?
According to articles in Smithsonian.com and also bbc.com, there is a town in the Australian outback where such a case exists. The town is called Coober Peddy. It is located in South Australia about 500 miles north of the coastal city of Adelaide. The name Coober Peddy loosely translated from the Aboriginal language means White Man In A Hole. It’s an appropriate name as some 60% of this town’s 3,500 people live in subterranean homes.
About a hundred years ago a teenager discovered a perfect opal stone in the sandstone plains of this region. The excitement over this find set off an opal mining boom. Opals are still mined in the area, in fact it is estimated that some 70% of the world’s opals come from here. Coober Peddy bills itself as the Opal Capital of the World.
Of course, where there are mines there also have to be miners. But remember we are talking about the Australian Outback, a region where the summertime temperatures routinely reach 120 F (49 C) and where winters can be surprisingly cold. This dry region has no trees from which to build structures, so the early miners found adequate protection from the scorching heat and winter cold in the mines themselves.
Several years of opal mining has left hundreds of manmade underground caverns. The location of these caverns is marked by an immense pile of dirt and rock waste or mine tailings. The town is filled with literally hundreds of these sandstone cone-shaped piles. (This otherworldly looking landscape was the setting for the 1985 Mel Gibson – Tina Turner flick Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.) But upon further examination, you will notice that many of these piles have a white pipe sticking up out of the ground next to it. These pipes are ventilation shafts, and they mark the locations of dwellings.
As mentioned above, the early miners found relief from the heat of the day by staying in the mines. By the 1960s the town was prosperous enough that miners’ families started joining them. The abandoned mine shafts were enlarged to accommodate the miner’s wife and children. The soft sandstone is relatively easy to carve, and rooms can be made as large as you want and any shape that you want. Today, it’s quite common to find three-bedroom two bath homes or dugouts as they are called by the locals. And regardless of what the temperature is outside, it always remains a pleasant 73 degrees inside, and that is 24 hours a day every day of the year!
Not only is this comfortable, but it is also inexpensive. All of Coober Peddy’s electricity comes from solar and wind power. To air condition a normal building in this extreme climate would be outrageously expensive. Other benefits include zero insects. "When you get to the door flies jump off your back, they don't want to come into the dark and the cold," says one local resident. The town is also remarkably quiet, and the star gazing is terrific at night as there is little light pollution.
So, let’s say you’re living in an underground home and you find that you have a baby on the way and you need more space. Well, get out your pickaxe and just start hacking, simple as that. And in an opal mining area it’s not unheard of for a renovation project to actually make money. One man was adding a shower on to his home when he discovered a large opal sticking out of his wall. A local hotel during a renovation project found opals that were valued at nearly $1,000,000! (Yes, the town has a subterranean hotel as well as a museum, church, a movie theatre, and several restaurants and bars) Of course, you do have to be careful that you don’t accidentally dig through a neighbor’s wall. “My apologies, Mate!”
Some of the dugouts in Coober Peddy are quite luxurious. One has an underground swimming pool, several others boast game rooms, formal dining rooms, expansive bathrooms, and high tech livings rooms. Some have carved elaborate bookshelves right into the sandstone walls. "We've got some stunning dugouts here," says local resident James Wright, who explains that the residents are notoriously private – another luxury when you live underground – so you only tend to find out about them when you're invited over for dinner.
You might wonder why more places don’t follow Coober Peddy’s subterranean example. Well, one large drawback that most places would have would be the presence of groundwater. Coober Peddy is extremely dry, there is not much groundwater to deal with. The exhaust pipes are sufficient to remove moisture resulting from human activities and thus mold and seepage are not problematic. This would not be the case for most locations in the world.
The residents of Coober Peddy are very happy with their unique living arrangements. The town even boasts an annual Opal Festival which welcomes guests from far and wide. The Smithsonian article ends by saying that there really is no other place like Coober Peddy on – or below – earth.
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Phil here reminding you to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages @RemnantStewPodcast. Drop us an email at StayCurious@RemnantStew.com just to say hi or to let us know about any topics you would like to hear us cover in an upcoming episode.
Remnant Stew is part of Rook & Raven Ventures and is created by me, Leah Lamp. Steve Meeker researches and writes each episode that we then host together. Our audio producer is Phillip Sinquefield. The Oddity Du Jour is brought to you by Sam Lamp. Theme music is by Kevin MacLeod with voiceover by Morgan Hughes. Special thanks goes out to Brandy Nichols and Judy Meeker.
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Until next time remember to choose to be kind…AND ALWAYS STAY CURIOUS!
--SOURCES ----------------------
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-mystery-of-europes-erdstall-tunnels
https://www.amusingplanet.com/2017/08/the-mysterious-erdstalls-tunnels.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-64005022
https://familytreemagazine.com/history/historical-time-capsules/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/70767/9-historically-disappointing-time-capsules
https://www.lovethegarden.com/uk-en/article/20-weirdest-things-found-buried-peoples-gardens
https://www.ranker.com/list/strange-items-found-during-construction/daveesons
https://www.orkneyjar.com/history/tombs/dwarfiestane/index.html
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/dwarfie-stane/
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-cincinnati-subway-cincinnati-ohio
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230803-the-town-where-people-live-underground
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/unearthing-coober-pedy-australias-hidden-city-180958162/
