The OES visited the Meggenhofen Winery Tunnel
on September 5, 2001, along with Craz of Urban Underground. Located atop a hill
in Chillicothe, the Mountain House, along with the tunnels, were built in the
early 1850s by Louis Meggenhofen, a German immigrant who fled his country during
the Persecution Act of 1846. The family operated a winery there for many years,
tending a large vineyard below the house. The tunnels were built so that the
wine could be kept in a cool environment to age. By 1919, the Ohio wine business
wasn't doing very well and the property was sold to Dard Hunter, who was known
world-wide for his printing techniques. The tunnels lay vacant and many
collapsed or were filled in. Access to the tunnels can be found throughout the hillside where the vineyard and winery once
operated. When we visited, we searched the hillside for about 20 minutes before
finding a hole in the ground. Upon entering the tunnel, we noticed they didn't
extend very far...and very large spiders found them to be a nice home. We
snapped the photos below, originally hosted on the now defunct Urban Underground
website.
| Location Information: Abandoned |
| The Meggenhofen Winery Tunnel is located near Highland Avenue in Chillicothe; Ross County. |
| Photographs |
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