The Underground Tunnel of Death
VA History ·
“The Underground Tunnel of Death” is a spooky name. However, it represents a unique story in VA history and the commitment to perpetual care by NCA. Dive into the unique history of the Dayton VA’s Funeral Tunnel and learn how soon you will be able to travel through the tunnel too.
Join me in imagining the following scene. It was a gloomy and stormy day in October 1894. The wind whipped at the collars of the men waiting at the end of the tunnel and rain fell hard on their hats and coats. The band stood ready to play and the grave had been dug. The weather, however, had no effect upon the casket of the recently deceased soldier as he was carried from the hospital to his final resting place in the cemetery of Dayton’s National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. He was carried peacefully through the “Underground Path of Death” banishing the effects of the weather for the roughly 30 yards between the hospital and the cemetery before the procession marched on. At the open grave, the band played, prayers were offered, and the honor guard fired into the air while his body was lowered, providing final honors for his service to the Nation.
If you take a walk around the national cemetery at the Dayton, Ohio, VA campus, you will find an unassuming brick structure that once held the title of the “Underground Path of Death,” but is now known as the Funeral Tunnel. It was used for exactly the purpose described in October 1894. The tunnel was originally built as an access route for coal to be delivered to the basement of the hospital building, but as coal heating was phased out, the tunnel’s purpose changed.
The tunnel became an effective way to transport those who passed away in the hospital to the cemetery down the hill. The tunnel exit was ornately designed with quarried limestone blocks and featured an ornate gate as seen in the 1910 postcard image. As the years progressed and a new hospital building was built, the tunnel ceased to be used and was eventually blocked. This was the tunnel’s condition when the National VA History Center contracted with TimeLooper to create a 3D augmented reality (AR) tour of the tunnel.
TimeLooper, the National VA History Center’s partner in developing a state-of-the art AR tour of the historic sites on the campus, used a 2020 study conducted by RATIO Architects Inc. and a bit of creativity to recreate the Funeral Tunnel in a virtual 3D environment. The Funeral Tunnel is just one of many stops on the AR tour but has long been perhaps the biggest mystery on the Dayton VA campus. It was out of use and sealed up many years ago, with no record of what lay inside or how the tunnel was laid out. The legend of the Funeral Tunnel continued to grow however, and with TimeLooper’s help, the National VA History Center is excited to bring it back to life and let everyone peek in on the mystery.
The Funeral Tunnel is a unique story in the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) history, and one that we are excited to preserve and help make public. Though the men in the 1880s never imagined the VA of today, the same reverence and perpetual care of Veterans in the 1880s, when the tunnel was first used for its ceremonial purpose, is still exemplified today by NCA staff. The VAHO team is hard at work on the AR tour and virtual visitor experience of the Funeral Tunnel and nine other featured historic buildings. The history of the Funeral Tunnel was highlighted as part of the “History of VA in 100 Objects” project, currently available on the VA History website. To read the article, see here .