Wabasha Street Caves

Wabasha Street Caves opened in 1933 under the name Castle Royal and was hailed as the "World’s Most Gorgeous Underground Nightclub” by area newspapers. The venue utilized naturally-created underground tunnels that have been utilized for a variety of purposes over the past century. Today, the historic caves are open for tours and support a variety of public events.

Before European settlers came to St. Pual in the 1800s, Native American tribes used many naturally formed caves out of the soft sandstone. Around the 1840s, some of the caves had been enlarged, and also new caves were dug out. The man-made caves were mined for silica sand to be used in glassmaking. From the 1880s to 1980s, the caves were used to grow mushrooms owing to the cool, damp interiors. Year later, there were connections between the caves and organized crime as four men believed to be gang members were in the Fireside Room at the Castle Royal playing cards when a man with a briefcase came in suddenly and asked them to leave. Then the five men got up and started to leave, accompanied by their waitress; she broke off from the group for a moment. At that moment, she heard shots from a Thompson submachine gun that left three of the original four men dead.

Wabasha Street Caves. Accessed October 13th, 2022. https://www.wabashacaves.com/.

HTC. Wabasha Street Caves, Historic Twin Cities. December 10th, 2019. Accessed October 13th, 2022. http://www.historictwincities.com/2019/12/10/wabasha-street-caves/.