Designed to transport steam and electricity between the myriad buildings, they are largely filled with large steam pipes, high-pressure water pipes and data cables. The tunnels can be dated to the construction of the eight original colleges, Sterling Memorial Library and Payne Whitney Gym in the early 1930s. “Part of Yale’s appeal is its age and history, and seeing something old and unknown like these tunnels I guess is sort of immersing yourself more in it,” Theodore Pedas ’20 explained when interviewed.ĭespite the tunnels’ current mystique, their origins reveal a more practical purpose. Unlike the above-ground tombs of Skull and Bones and the well-traversed residential college roofs, these tunnels represent a relatively unexplored campus secret: while ten out of ten Yale students who were surveyed expressed interest in investigating the tunnels, none had actually explored them during their time at Yale. The network includes all the residential college basements as well as the steam tunnels. Along with this external aesthetic, the omnipresence of secret societies, unknown passageways and centuries-old traditions show a culture both devoted to, and excited by, preserving the intrigue and mystery of Yale’s over three-hundred year history.īeneath the surface on which these buildings sit, a subterranean campus secret has captured the attention of intrepid Yale students for generations: a labyrinth of tunnels connecting the buildings occupies the blocks between York, Elm, Grove and College Streets on Yale’s central campus. The University’s Gothic architecture, rollicking bells and the adjacent cemetery proclaiming the words, “The Dead Shall Be Raised” appear to be plucked from the script of a campy classic. Yale’s campus in part lends itself to the spooky mood of the Halloween season. A chill in the air, the changing colors of leaves and the ubiquitous bag of hand-picked apples: it is obvious to any Yale student that fall has officially arrived.
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