Couple discovers creepy hidden tunnel under their Michigan home – before realizing fascinating reason it was dug

While a Michigan The couple knew the house they bought in 2020 needed a major renovation, but they didn’t expect to discover a hidden piece of history.

Hayley Gilmartin and her husband, Trevor, were removing an old jacuzzi from their home in Lake Huron, the body of water that divides the U.S. Canadawhen they discovered a mysterious water-filled chamber twenty feet below the surface.

The chamber, which connects to the lake via a 6-foot pipe, is believed to be a Prohibition-era tunnel and likely served as a secret route for smuggling. alcohol across the border.

Haley told Newsweek that the house was “very 1970s style” and that they had always planned to remove the jacuzzi that was in the living room.

The couple said they knew it would be an undertaking to remove the house, but the discovery of the “manhole-like thing” under the Jacuzzi changed everything the couple knew about the house.

Hayley Gilmartin and her husband, Trevor, were removing an old jacuzzi from their home in Lake Huron, the body of water that separates the US and Canada, when they discovered a mysterious, water-filled chamber twenty feet below the surface.

The chamber, which is connected to the lake via a seven-foot pipe, is believed to be a Prohibition-era tunnel that likely served as a secret route for smuggling alcohol across the border.

“Our house has about three feet of concrete between each floor,” Haley said.

Haley and her husband were initially unhappy with the discovery, as they initially found it disturbing.

“I think anyone who finds a manhole under their house in pitch black will find it scary,” she said.

‘But the water is super clear and nothing strange has been found in the water.’

After working up enough courage to see if it was safe to go through the manhole, the couple discovered a whole other room.

“We dug into the river and found the other end of it, a huge tunnel,” Haley said.

She also explained that it is “impossible” to pump the water out of the mysterious chamber because it “still draws water from Lake Huron and the rivers to which it is connected.”

As the couple delved into the history of the house and the reason behind the room, they were bombarded with a number of theories about what the room was actually intended for.

“People in the area told us that our house loaded brine onto freighters during World War II, but we’re not sure how accurate that is,” Hayley told Newsweek.

“The wildest theory we’ve heard is that it was used to smuggle alcohol out of Canada during the Prohibition days because it’s so close. Although we do find many bottles from the Prohibition era in our area.’

They have also heard from several neighbors that they also have tunnels that lead to some kind of secret rooms under their houses.

In the hidden room Haley and her husband discovered

During Prohibition, Lake Huron and the St. Clair River turned into busy smuggling routes where opponents of the American temperance movement transported illegal alcohol across the border from the north.

Historian Douglas Bancroft said the area was the reason for 75% of illegal exports during Prohibition, he said The Times Herald.

Hayley and Trevor also found a boarded up wooden door in the room, which they have yet to remove but plan to do so in the future.

“We’ll continue to explore it and if possible we’ll clear it out and maybe create a games room or a bowling alley there,” Hayley told Newsweek.