Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA 19th-century tunnel network beneath downtown Chattanooga that served as supply corridors during the Civil War and hideouts during Prohibition, now a stop on local ghost tours.
100 Broad Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Accessible via Ghost City Tours or similar guided tour operators; see operator website for current pricing
Access
Limited Access
Underground passages; uneven surfaces, low clearances in some areas
Equipment
Photos OK
Civil War Supply Network · Prohibition-Era Bootlegging Routes · Chattanooga Underground Infrastructure
Chattanooga's downtown sits above a network of 19th-century tunnels whose origins and extent are not fully documented in the public record. The tunnels appear in local history primarily through their documented Civil War and Prohibition-era uses: as supply and communications routes during the 1863 campaigns around Chattanooga, and later as passages used by bootleggers operating during Prohibition in the 1920s.
The city's position at a key railroad and river junction made it a significant logistics hub during the Civil War. Union forces occupied Chattanooga following the September 1863 Battle of Chickamauga and used the city as a supply base for subsequent campaigns into Georgia. Underground passages may have served military logistical functions during this period, though primary documentation is sparse.
During Prohibition, Chattanooga's underground passages became useful to those moving alcohol illegally. The city's reputation as 'Little Chicago' — shared with Johnson City, due to both cities' documented connections to bootlegging operations — reflects a regional pattern of organized liquor distribution in east Tennessee during the 1920s.
Access to the tunnel network today is largely through private commercial properties whose basements connect to tunnel sections. Ghost City Tours and similar operators have incorporated accessible tunnel sections into guided tour itineraries. The broader network is not publicly accessible as a standalone attraction.
Sources
The most specific account tied to the underground tunnels involves a staff member at a Broad Street business who reported watching an apparition in period work clothing walk directly through a basement door — a sealed door that led to a tunnel section. The figure did not interact with the witness and disappeared on the other side.
Broader reports from the tunnels include shadow figures observed in peripheral vision, unexplained voices when passages are empty, and localized cold spots that do not correspond to drafts or ventilation. These categories of phenomena are consistent with accounts from other tunnel and subterranean environments that appear on ghost tour circuits.
The Ghost City Tours documentation of the underground is careful not to attribute paranormal events to any specific historical group or tragedy. The tunnels' history is presented as the context for the site's atmosphere rather than as an explanation for specific phenomena.
Guided tours of downtown Chattanooga include sections of the tunnel network beneath Broad Street. The tunnels appear as stops on the Ghost City Tours itinerary, which covers their Civil War and Prohibition history alongside reported paranormal accounts.
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This Chattanooga tour includes Underground Chattanooga (Tunnel Network) on its route.
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