🍙 The yawning cave beneath us

The following is an excerpt from local geologist Greg Brick's book "Subterranean Twin Cities" about a geologic marvel beneath Longfellow. As a full book chapter, it's about thrice as long as what usually shows up in this newsletter. The short version is:

Below 34th Street and West River Parkway is an expansive sandstone cave, discovered by chance in the 1930's by workers digging a sewage tunnel under the river. At 800 feet deep, 50 feet wide, and 20 feet high, it’s the largest known cave in Minneapolis, likely created as St. Anthony Falls migrated upstream thousands of years ago. It may well connect to the Seven Oaks Oval. And while it used to be a popular attraction that the city even considered turning into an underground park, its main access shaft on the river road is now kept under tight lock and key and rarely made accessible.

Oh, and maybe most importantly, it's really dangerous to try to access, even by his standards, and you very much shouldn't try any of this at home. 

Special thanks to Dr. Brick for making this chapter available to Whatever readers. If you like this part, his book features much more local subterranean history and chronicles of his (sometimes clandestine, almost always ill-advised for amateurs) exploration of Twin Cities caves, tunnels, and sewers.