Does Danbury Have a Massive Underground Tunnel? One Man Says Yes

Awhile back, I went on a day trip, to get into an underground tunnel in Brookfield. I'd heard about this from a friend who said I should take a look.

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What I found was impressive, a little scary and had not been seen, in what appeared to be a long time. Since then, I've been given tips and nudges from our readers and listeners, telling me the next place I should check out.

About a year ago someone else, gave me some vague description of a massive underground tunnel in Danbury. They said it has been closed-off for years and very few people know it's there. They said it was not impossible to access but it would not be easy either. I forgot about this recommendation until recently.

It was a sunny and bitterly cold Monday morning (11/21/22) when I heard about it again. Dave and I were a bit worn down from a long weekend broadcast in Brookfield, our annual food drive called "Camping for Cans."

We finished up the show and went off to our respective work stations. After a few minutes, I went to my car to grab my banana and a piece of gum. I saw a red sedan parked in an unusual way, the engine idling and a driver behind the wheel.

I sat down in my driver's seat to gather my things. In the rear view mirror, I noticed the car was still sitting there but the driver was beginning to stir. By now, they'd had plenty of time to get my attention but they didn't, so I went back inside. As the door closed behind me, I noticed the person heading towards our mailbox.

We get a lot of mail and I wrote this off as unusual but nothing more. Later, I remembered there was a letter I needed to mail out. I printed the document, got an envelope, sealed it and walked out to the mailbox. Inside, was a letter addressed to Large Dave and I. Below is exactly what the letter said, minus the name on it and the names mentioned in it.

"Dave and Lou,

You guys were talking about scary places around town to explore. There is a tunnel, under a local shopping center, must be 200 yards long. When I worked at Public Works in 1972 L--- ------ (our boss) sent us over, down there with two other kids. We had a light, a shovel and a steel rake. It was terrifying, I was 16 and there was no visible light. Call me, if you want to know where it is.

J----- ------"

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This was intriguing, as soon as I finished reading it, I ran into Dave's office to let him know about the letter. We have to find out from our new friend, where the tunnel is and then get to the bottom of it's purpose.  Is there a secret tunnel in Danbury? I think so and it won't be a secret for long.

This was not my last hot tip on tunnels. I spoke to a gentleman at the Danbury Street Fair in early June of 2023 who had some information for me, he told me he knew of a tunnel and it was not far from where we were on Main Street. He warned me not to enter the tunnel unless I was prepared to get wet and had a flashlight.

A few days later I wandered over to the area completely unprepared to enter a tunnel and found what he was talking about. I took photos of the entrance, sent them to him to confirm I was in the right place and it turns out I was. He went back over there the same day and got into the tunnel a bit to show me more and sent me the following photos.

I'l be going back to get a better, more in-depth look and I'll share what I find. I suspect this tunnel is cool but not the full picture. Taking into account all the things I've been told and Danbury's age I believe that the Hat City has a vast underground network. I don't know how many tunnels there are, I also don't know how many of them are accessible but I intend to find out.

Until I can give a more detailed account, a really interesting payoff I'm going to hold onto what I know and keep it close to the vest.

UPDATE (6/19/23): I went back on one of the most rainy days of the month after I was told not to do that.

Apparently someone washed themselves in this body of water.

This trip was nothing like our trip into the Brookfield tunnel.

There were piles of questionable trash mixed into the water.

There were several times I had to poke a plastic bag to make sure it didn't move or have a foot in it.

We also had to take turns walking with a rear end in our face.

The tunnel also lacked mystery.

It's clearly a poorly constructed drainage system.

The mystery lies in the footing.

At one point I was up to my knees in water and took a big stride forward with my left foot and could not reach bottom so I reversed course on my right foot.

I've been writing this in stages for some time. Each time I add to it, I go back and read what I wrote before to refresh my memory. I'm pretty sure the tips I've received are all about different tunnels.

This most recent tunnel isn't sexy, it's not some unbelievable find but it does give me more hope for the other tunnels I've heard about. This journey was somewhere on West Street but I have it on good faith there is a much more impressive non-drainage tunnel somewhere along Main Street.

I will not stop until I can go full Geraldo on that ass. This is the DaVinci Code for morons.