Below is a picture of the Stumphouse Tunnel in South Carolina, but many may not be aware of the rough and rowdy town located atop the mountain that housed the workers on this project.
Stumphouse Tunnel was the westernmost tunnel of the three; Middle Tunnel was ½ mile SE, and Saddle Tunnel was 1-¾ miles NE. The longest section of this tunnel is 1,600 feet long. About 1,500 Irish miners who lived in the Tunnel Hill village atop the mountain cut through blue granite with hand drills, hammers, and chisels. The town had a schoolhouse, a Catholic church, a post office, and several saloons with a bad reputation for being violent, and mining-related deaths were common. Another report stated that up to ten miners lost their lives inside the tunnel.
We have written several articles on Stumphouse Tunnel, but the town is rarely mentioned.
Today, many believe the unfinished tunnel is haunted, as is the site of the old village atop the mountain, which once welcomed the workers with open arms, where the booze flowed like mud.
Written By: John G. Clark Jr.
Image By: John G. Clark Jr.