| The
very first time we explored the NSP/Gas Tunnels, I noticed
a hole in the ceiling in one of the tunnels as I tromped
along. My headlamp's light seemed to indicate a good-sized
space above, so I climbed up on the brackets holding the
power lines to the walls, and managed to wiggle up and
into the wormhole in the tunnel ceiling.
A
quick look around revealed a mid-sized manmade cave,
shaped like a U, and littered with ancient debris. I
called down for the others to come check it out, and
soon we were all inside.
Both
ends of the "U" featured nooks in the wall
that had been carved to hold oil lanterns. A 10-foot
high collapsed brick archway was all that was left of
what must have once been the cave's entrance. We found
decaying leather straps, shards of thick old bottles,
and several stone (marble? soapstone?) sinktops: counters
with holes for a sink or basin to be set into. They
were blackened with age, and we had no idea how or why
they had come to be in this bizarre cave.
Later
investigation has led us to believe that this cave was
possibly the fermentation cave for the "City Brewery,"
a small brewery that had operated there in the 1800's.
This
cave, rumored to have been used by bootleggers during
Prohibition, has long been sealed off from the surface
world and presumed by surface-dwellers to be collapsed
and lost.
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