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All the United States Michigan Traverse City Botanical Garden Visitor's Center Gift Shop Tunnel

Botanical Garden Visitor's Center Gift Shop Tunnel

It leads to a former hospital’s old root cellar.

Traverse City, Michigan

Added By
Rick Brown
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Looking into the tunnel from the gift shop.   rickbbiking / Atlas Obscura User
Looking into the tunnel from the gift shop.   rickbbiking / Atlas Obscura User
View inside the root cellar.   rickbbiking / Atlas Obscura User
Inside the root cellar.   rickbbiking / Atlas Obscura User
Looking back toward the gift shop.   rickbbiking / Atlas Obscura User
Tunnel gate inside the gift shop.   rickbbiking / Atlas Obscura User
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About

There are many interesting historic features that can be found while freely wandering about or touring the former Traverse City State Hospital properties. To discover one of them, you'll have to pop into the visitor's center gift shop at the Botanic Gardens at Historic Barns Park. 

Tucked in the back of the shop is an approximately 50-foot long brick tunnel. It connects the store to the subterranean cellar once used to store root vegetables grown on the hospital's farmland. Workers would back wagons to the tunnel, load the vehicles with vegetables from the root cellar, and then transport the produce to the hospital kitchens. 

The tunnel entrance from the gift shop has been adorned with a handcrafted metal gate that depicts the site's former agricultural use. Look closely, and you'll spot wheat shafts representing the past and flowers representing the grounds' reincarnation as a botanical garden.

Portions of the tunnel are adorned with gift items for sale, while at the far end is the entrance into the root cellar. Access to the tunnel is available when the gift shop is open, and the staff is often pleased to open the entrance to the root cellar or to give an informative tour of the entire site.

Related Tags

Tunnels Underground Subterranean Subterranean Sites Shops

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Gift shop hours are posted on the Botanic Gardens at Historic Barns Park website. Tours are also available.

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Added By

rickbbiking

Published

August 20, 2019

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  • http://www.historicbarnspark.com
  • https://thebotanicgarden.org
  • https://thebotanicgarden.org/visit/#visitorcenter2
Botanical Garden Visitor's Center Gift Shop Tunnel
Traverse City, Michigan, 49684
United States
44.748234, -85.647558
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