Stumphouse Tunnel
The Stumphouse Tunnel is an unfinished railroad tunnel dug in Walhalla, South Carolina, in the 1850s. By 1859, digging was canceled because of financial difficulties and the impending Civil War, and the tunnel remains only 4,363 feet long. At full length the tunnel was to be 5,863 feet long.
Going through the tunnel, there are several doorways. The doors are chained open but make loud, creaky noises when moved. In the center of the tunnel there is a large air shaft going upwards, where you can see the sky. Water continually falls down here as it seeps out of the side dirt. At the end of the tunnel there are three large steps that allow you to climb to the top. Making noise at this point will give you amusing echos.
The tunnel was dug by hand and with black powder, as dynamite had not yet been invented.
Because of the year-round low temperature and high humidity inside Stumphouse Tunnel, the tunnel was once used by Clemson University to grow blue cheese.
The Stumphouse Tunnel is directly adjacent to Issaqueena Falls
The underframe and trucks of a pre-World War II Southern Railway caboose sit on a short piece of track on the approach to the mouth of the tunnel.
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