Opium dens - Visalia

Some more info I found on a website.

Visalia's Underground History Mystery

Posted: Feb 26, 2008 11:11 PM

By: Ashley Ritchie

They are a piece of South Valley history that has been underground for more than 50 years.

Many know little about the tunnels that span much of downtown Visalia.

But there is no shortage of rumors.

Stories about drug-trafficking, murders, and ghosts that haunt the buildings, the tunnels sit under run rampant.

But how do you separate urban legend from a true piece of history?

We literally got to the bottom of it to find out.

Chris Lum opened the Double L steakhouse in Visalia back in 1994.

A western-themed restaurant and saloon, the Chinese artifacts in cases on the wall might seem a little out of place to your typical "Joe Diner".

"They make interesting conversation pieces and that's why we display them amongst the restaurant," Chris Lum said.

But it's what's under the restaurant where the real interest begins.

"They really are a part of Visalia's history," said Lum.

Piles of wood, dilapidated bricks and cobwebs covering every corner make up the portion of tunnels beneath Double L.

"I'm pretty lucky actually, because I got a little bit of my Chinese heritage that we dug up right here in Visalia, California," Lum said.

And this piece of history was found right under his restaurant.

"We found bullets, old syringe bottles, pipes. Things you don't see everyday," said Lum.

Lum first noticed the underground tunnels while renovating the steakhouse.

But he'd heard about them long before.

"We've heard there was a lot of gambling. They used to smoke opium. It was kind of like a little sub-community underground," he said.

Lum says these tunnels have been around since before the Depression, as a retreat for Chinese immigrants who left their families to come to the Valley in search of a better life.

But they didn't exactly find windows of opportunity.

"They were pretty much ostracized by society, the Chinese community, the working community, which mainly consisted of men," said Lum.

Those men came to the tunnels to get together with other immigrants.

"They liked to gamble. Chinese, by and large still do to this day, they like to gamble. And opium was always a part of their culture, so they brought it over," Lum said.

So what about all those rumors the tunnels are haunted?

Lum says they're not rumors.

And if you're ever around there alone, you might feel like someone is behind you or hear a sound between the walls.

"It's a jokester ghost. It's not evil at all. Basically like a practical jokester," Lum said.

Above ground at the Double L Steakhouse, the hundreds of beer bottles, syringes, pipes and bullets found in the tunnels now line cases against the walls.

It's unusual décor for a western restaurant or perhaps you could call it progress.

"There was a lot of prejudices and as we've gone through time, those prejudices have lessened and lessened and lessened. And therefore, those rooms aren't needed anymore," Lum said.

The Double L steakhouse is on Visalia's list of historic sites, which means whoever owns that building in the future must maintain the tunnels.

very cool Anna.. Roux likes this idea of a little visit to Visalia !!..

very cool, roxy..........and I used to make calls and sell products in that town.......if I had only been into the paranormal and known about them in those years, when I was "healthy" I would have LOVED to check out the tunnels.....

TIM and LSF...........are you aware that there are many tunnels running all under downtown San Francisco?.......old speakeasy's with tunnels that would lead to a theater so they could shake and bake and dodge the Irish cops, who in those days were on the take, thus how the Tenderloin got coined it's name, the Irish beat cops would do their shake downs to be able to afford tenderloin meat for dinner.......truth! Though, they weren't all Irishmen, of course....(being Irish, I hate to think of that side of the story).....however, there's oodles of tunnels running all under Market street and the Embarcadero, if you can find an entrance, I'm sure it would be a wild adventure......probably a haunt or three, too!

Also, there's ton's of old boats as landfill under the China basin.......during the gold rush, I suppose, they would sail in, dock and high tail it to stake a claim in the gold country....thus hundreds of abandoned boats were just left to rot and eventually they just became part of the land, rather than the bay,,,,,,,,,,

I keep wondering, there was sooo much destruction from the quake, there has to be haunts all over downtown that have yet to be uncovered........

Love to you all and god bless,
Keith