An interesting urban legend of Athens, TX is that there is an underground tunnel system directly under the city. The legend is that the tunnels are in the shape of a pentagram and each of the five entrances into the tunnel system are marked by the points of the pentagram, with the courthouse being at the center of the star. However, a more logical approach to the tunnels and their connection with Fuller Park and other suspected entrances are that:
1.) The tunnels were actually part of the “underground railroad” that was used to help liberate the slaves during the American Civil War between 1861-1865.
2.) The tunnels were a means of transporting moonshine during the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920’s-1933.
Whatever reasoning behind the original use of the tunnels was, the fact is that the urban legend surrounds the use of the tunnels during the purchase of the Fuller property to the late 70’s and early 80’s. During this time period the tunnels are rumored to have hosted a variety of ritualistic ceremonies including the sacrifice of small animals and in some cases humans. The local newspaper “The Athens Daily Review” wrote an article in 1989 with written testimony of a personal account regarding the suspected locations of the entrances to the tunnels system. The anonymous person drew a map showcasing the entrances.
Black of Day 
Lori
July 28, 2008
I always wondered if the tunnels were a way for folks to get to the courthouse in case of tornados or atomic bombs!
vanita
August 31, 2010
i lived in athens texas for a long time i can say it took a long to get out its like some kind of force would not let me leave i know too much i wa haunted these are no just legnds there is whitchcraft and kkk and satan worishpers all over athens i lived on the one road peolple were scared to walk on
Lizzie
September 5, 2010
Its like red rose Manor in Jamaica everyone has been but some have gone alone and found rooms no one ever saw but wen they took a picture it came out as if someone ran in front of them and no one belived it or the film just didnt take the picture
james lovelady
March 26, 2012
where u in the tunnels?
Jay Davis
May 6, 2020
Are there any in Tyler. Email me at Davisjay52@gmail.com
Tim Jones
January 21, 2021
The only thing that kept you in Athens is the desire to leave.
Shells
October 28, 2011
Why would people want to go to a courthouse in the event of a disaster? BTW – The A-Bomb wasn’t invented until July 16, 1945 – 1 year after Mr. Fuller’s death.
Bob Loblaw
May 20, 2012
It probably was also used as a fallout shelter.
I know my high school in Dallas built one in the school but the school itself was 90 years old. Fallout shelters are all over in places like that- you just don’t ever notice the sign that says so.
You'll know me
August 23, 2008
I know where one is, but I have sources that know every location.
Tunnel finder
May 3, 2009
You’ll Know me I would apprieciate it if u gav me ur email so i could find out those locations
Apostle Paul
May 5, 2009
If you really have this info why are you and the others keeping it secret. Where are the tunnel entrances. It seems as though everyone has heard about these things and someone has been there but no one ever gtives an exact location.
vanita
August 31, 2010
i can tell u everything i lived there for 7 years on the same rd as fuller park
Xavier
March 22, 2019
Can you tell me where the locations are, me and my team would like to further investigate the mysteries. Please email me back asap, I would appreciate it.
Lori
October 24, 2008
I’ve been surfing the ‘net looking at all the info about the tunnels. I find it curious that so many people have seen the tunnel entrances . . . have been in a tunnel . . . know where all the entrances are – – and yet there are NO tunnel photos to be found!
Even if they are cemented over, let’s see some pictures! I’m thinking they are just old entrances to a sewer system.
Anonymous
March 8, 2017
The tunnel entrances in Athens at these following locations…
Old Jail 32.206631, -95.853446
Athens Country Club 32.192332, -95.863194
County Courthouse 32.204814, -95.854352
Fullers Park 32.174753, -95.836194
Old Hospital 32.191459, -95.849820
Each of these locations are real places in Athens, but from these locations it is hard to make out the ‘Pentagram’ shape of the tunnels based on these five entrances.
dillian
October 29, 2008
hey this is stupid there are no tunnels in athens
vanita
August 31, 2010
ur wrong i lived there for 7 years i know everything its nojust legends
Nessa
November 12, 2008
You write very well.
Celeste
December 29, 2008
Lori,
I completely agree with your earlier statement. If these tunnels are indeed true, I would like to see some proof. Well said Lori.
Jim
December 31, 2008
These tunnels rtun also from the old jail to the courthouse, they were used to transport prisoners to the courthouse and back to jail,
They also were built to be used during the times when nuclear shelters were built, These are te main tunnels, and thier purpose.
Any additional tunnels wee bbuilt after that , God knows for what reason, but they are not a secret and a call to the Henderson county courthouse wouldl probably gain you a lot more knowledge that just hearsay,
I hve heard that the gates to the cemetery atthe park, are ice cold even in the summer, I may take a trip out there and see for myself if there is anything psychic lingering, as I do have quite a psychic ability myself , will postback
who me?
January 1, 2009
yeah where are the pics i hear the someone gave an interview in 1989 in the athens daily review about the tunnels but i havent been able to pull that up yet so if anyone can let me know
Blayne
January 5, 2009
if u know where the entrances are then why the hell wont u just say? makes no sense. anybody can get on here and say what u said. douche. PROOF
Tunnel finder
May 3, 2009
I’m a strong believer in the tunnels but i still say that if someone has found them y arent there pics come on people i was born in athens i live ten miles from athens and i have not once seen a tunnel pic
vanita
August 31, 2010
i know were the are unfortunately i dont live thr anymore i would half to go back but cant i had a hard time leaveing something some kind of force would not let me leave i dont know how i got away
Tunnel finder
May 3, 2009
oh and by the way the supposed “well” in the fuller property is still not yet to be found ive marked off almost every bit of property via gps ive still got 4 acres and im going may 9th email me and ill tell u if i find it. Fallensk8r90@hotmail.com
guest
September 23, 2011
i have pictures of the well at fuller park.
chris womble
June 30, 2009
sorry guys….yall are on a wild goose chase…..listen closely……THERE ARE NO TUNNELS……SAY IT WITH ME……..THERE ARE NO TUNNELS….ONCE AGAIN ON THREE…..ONE TWO,THREEEEEE THERE ARE NO TUNNELS UNDER ATHENS !!!!!!!!!!!!!
MY GOODNESS PEOPLE USE YOUR HEADS …….NO PICTURES,,,EVERYONE KNOWS SOMEONE WHO KNOWS SOMEONE THAT KNOWS AN ENTRANCE OR WHOS GRANDFATHER HELPED BUILD THEM ???? BUT NO PROOF GIVE ME A BREAKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Mrs. Howard
July 18, 2009
Someone seems like a sourpuss. Negative nancy,you obviously act like you know so much info. Mature up buddy. You have no proof of there not being any tunnels. I’m pretty sure that there are,but they might not be in the form of a pentagram. They could have been used for anything that you could think of. Get the facts,and when you do and if you are right,than go ahead and act like a 4 year old who just won a coloring contest.
DeLeon
June 30, 2010
Im am sorry to break this to u but there r indeed tunles i know this for a fact because: there is an old house called Lila Lane that was used for diffrent things and had been owned by my mothers boss before he sold it. My mother took, my brother his friend and i to this place and as we were walking around we found a room and when we walked in and as we walked past a door we felt very cold. The odd thing was that it was very hot out that day. When we opened the door we found a tunnel it was dark so my brother and his friend grabbed flash lights and went down. They came back about 30 mins later and said that they heard nosies and came back. My mother and i were standing at the entrance and the whole time i told her no one needs to be down there and she agreed. A main reason no one says were the tunnels are located is because they are not ment to be in. A lot of strange things happen in these tunles and i would not advis to look or even go in them alone.
Andy Page
December 6, 2010
F-you there is tunnels under Athens and my brother and I will prove that when we get a gun, food to eat a camcorder, GPS , head lights,flash lights, a voice recorder, etc.
breeanna elizabeth lowe
April 16, 2012
look here your sounding like a reall dumbb ass right noww ; whyy dont youu just shut upp wile youur aheadd cause mayybe youu shouldd goo look for thee proof youur self ; and stopp the shitt talkingg over thee internet . (:
have a nice dayy !
SilverMist
August 26, 2013
You tell them, boy!
amazed
August 27, 2009
Wonder if Royal Mountain was made from all the tunnel dirt?
train
October 10, 2009
everyone here that says they know were the tunnels are likes to say things ,but there is one thing they don’t have is a map ,i found a map of the old under ground tunnels in an old suit case in the barn it is hard to read ,so i took it to an aniliser to find out what is was for ,there is tunnels an there are decoys ,i have the map in a flag case ,i will be making a trip to fuller park in two weeks with a man that was born in 1948 that new of the map an when i told him i found a map on the fuller property he got very nervous ,all the storys about the rail road or moon shine is all storys ,from what i can see from the map it is a toom of some kind ,i will not be taking camera’s or pictures ,i am going to see it with my own eyes an see if it is true ,an hear what this man has to say ,,i don’t know what i will find ,but there is somthing about fuller park that bothers me ,
will
November 1, 2009
ok listen ive lived in athens for 14 years , yes thats how old i am but listen closely athens country club has the same brick and so does anothe(hard to explain) and ive also heard that a tur nnel runs to athens country club and also behind arbys
Andy Page
December 6, 2010
Prove that you have the map by comming to my house
1001 crestway Dr.athens tx 75751
guest
September 23, 2011
YES!!! a tomb is exactly the feeling i got when i went into the tunnels about 16 years ago through fuller park…me and some friends went back out there last year and found where the tunnel entrance had been but was covered by the same type rock as the wall to fuller park (the first and only time I had went down there was with my boyfriend at the time and some of his friends who had frequently went down there and talked about it, and I basically had to beg him to take me)…I do actually have pictures of the well in Fuller park…but I’ve never stopped talking about it over the years and wanted to show my sister and my new husband…it’s on the south side wall of the park and the rock looks newer than the other rock out there. Anyways, when you actually get to the center, well more like the end (mind you go the right way) of it and come out of the tunnel it opens up to a round concrete room with about 25-30 foot ceiling…in the middle of it is very large pillars or column type things with some type of writings on them, floor to ceiling and nothing written on the actual walls of the room. The few large pillars are encircled by a separate concrete circle around them; however, is the same in height as the actual floor. It is still to date the most fantastic thing i have ever seen. I wouldn’t put it past being an old underground sewer system because that is what it looked like, except of course for the huge pillars in the middle of the room. We didn’t venture into any of the other tunnels and came out the exact way we came in, I’m not sure they go into a form of a star verses just twisting and turning off each other because that was the only tunnel that was an in and out to the room, and by no means a straight shot. I really wish someone had the guts and resources to really find out the secrets of Athens because they are hiding something and to also put to rest what is fact and what is fiction, but I guess places will always have their secrets, and I doubt not many years from now the people who truly know the secrets they will die with them. But still for now i’ll just say the tunnels are nothing more than a sewer system though a strange one, but who’s to say others don’t look the same…but then the questions remain…why so secretive about the tunnels and why are the entrances said to all be covered up if it’s just a silly old sewer system? What is Athens so scared people will find out??
Ashley
May 19, 2010
I was told by an old Timer that the tunnels were actually used to tranport Bricks to dirrerent parts of the city. The Brick laying company is where the scuba park is now located and it was easier to transport the bricks to various places then in the city on the tracks that lined the tunnels./
Ashley
May 19, 2010
And then the bricks wre used to constuct the buildings located on that part of town!
Ashley
May 19, 2010
They cemented the tunnels over a long time ago to keep people out .
Meagan
June 19, 2010
WOW! Do you people really not have anything else to do with your time then chase around ghost stories? What does it matter if there are tunnels or monkey cages or anything else for that matter. I live probably 400 yards from the entrance to Fullers Park and have for some time now, and I have never seen, heard, or anything else coming from there. Its a piece of land that an old man and old woman lived on and they are now dead and buried there. It would be the same thing as you burring a pet on the back of your land. Just cause they died and are now gone we should not run around town telling everyone they were devil worshippers. It just aint right!! The most action you are going to find in that place is some punk ass kids on a Saturday night with nothing but time on there hands. As for the so-called tunnels WHO CARES!!! Until a substantial amount of people start coming up missing at one time and theres a ‘good reason’ to believe there is something below us then leave it the hell alone. LOL, I would love for somone to prove that all this is wack bs so maybe the city of athens can rummage up another wild goose chase to go on. Until then. Get a life!!!
Tabitha Herriage
December 28, 2010
My Uncle was MURDERED!!! Let’s talk about that!!!
jacqueline
December 16, 2011
I have been searching online for the last few hours for the unsolved case of you uncle and I can’t find it anywhere thats how I came across this website.
I did not know him but I know his brother and was just very curious why it has been unsolved.
My name is jacqueline and you can reach me at lucylu5412@aol.com
breeanna elizabeth lowe
April 16, 2012
i havve a lifee !! thankk youu and this kinda stuff gets mee veryy interestedd ; is there somethingg wrongg with that ?! noooo i dontt thinkk there is !! iff youuu dontt care aboutt thisss shitt then dont fuckking put youur 2 sence inn !! plain and simple !! thankk youuu for youur time . (:
tamekio
October 17, 2010
im commenting on the story of the house on lila lane…..when you go in the tunnels you’re basically under someone’s house, i heard you can hear ppl’s conversation!!!!! IT’S ALL TRUE AND ALOT OF THE PPL ON HERE DON’T WANT TOO SAY BECAUSE THEY ARE APART OF THIS B/S BELEIVE IT,IT’S TRUE
meee
October 28, 2010
The tunnels are part of an old sewer system, there are 7 linked tunnels that meet at the courthouse. They follow under the 7 main entrances to athens, thats also where the name loop 7 comes from…
Tabitha Herriage
December 28, 2010
Hello,
My name is Tabitha Herriage. I was born and raised in Athens, Texas. My uncles name was Rickey Gene Herriage. He was brutally murdered and thrown off of a bridge off of monkey road. While everyone is talking about the mysteries of Athens I would appreciate anything that anyone could tell me about the death of my beautiful Uncle Rickey. Me and my family have been searching for answers for over 20 years and it is like no one will talk. Little investigation has been put into this like everyone is too scared to say anything. WHY?? What really happened and why does the police department not do their job? Why does my grandmother have to live all of her life searching for justice. Everyone has a voice when it comes to the witchcraft and devil worship, BUT what about the MURDER of my uncle. I challenge you (the ones who know what happened) To grow some nutts and speak up……
Athens Girl
July 10, 2011
I was born and raised in Athens, TX, and I too have been greeted with confusion and skepticism where these tunnels are mentioned. Never have I seen entrances or heard reliable stories of them. However, I am interested in the tunnels’ history. I have been told that entrances to said tunnels can be found at Fuller’s Park, the old Athens hospital, near Budget Inn, and at the Country Club. The accuracy of that information is iffy, though. Good luck with the search!
SSDD
November 2, 2011
Have live around Athens most all my life. These stories of the tunnels are true. Long before all this secret talk, he had spoken openly about it. I recall him saying it was one of the strangest experiences he had ever had. My uncle was in jail in Henderson Co. in the 70’s and said they where taken to the courthouse thru a tunnel system. It was a big hushed up case. I don’t know why he would have a reason to lie about the tunnel. It was like an afterthought to his main story.
david
January 8, 2012
i would like to know if some of you people say yall know where some of the entrances are well then where are they i would like to know.
david
January 8, 2012
i dont care if there cemented or not i would just like to know where they where at 1 time
obviously me
February 20, 2012
GET A LIFE PEOPLE!!! NDD REALLY YOUR GONNA PUT YOUR OWN FAMILIES STORY LIKE THAT?!! ONCE AGAIN I REPEAT GET A LIFE TABATHA!!!
breeanna elizabeth lowe
April 16, 2012
youu get a life !! youuu dumbb bitchh youur OBVIOUSLY not inn to thiss kindda shitt ; sooo whyy put youur 2 sence out here for thee worldd to see andd readd ?! i mean its preety damnn stupid that youu wanna tryy to put someonee onn blastt ; when youur the onee lookingg likke a dumbb ass !!
dusty
April 1, 2012
i lived in athens 22yearsi have heard all kinds of stuff i have seen the tombstones at fuller park where the cages were,but yearsago teenagers went out there and messed themallup butother than thati have notseen anything,we have even camped out there over night and never seen or heard anything other than animals so belive what you want ive been there an found nothing
Tim
April 11, 2012
I’ve lived in Athens for over 20 years and the worse thing that I have read in this thread is the appalling misuse and abuse of the English language. You guys should really quit worrying about tunnels, unless they lead directly to a spelling class.
Shawn
May 29, 2012
tits or gtfo…ahem i mean pics or it didnt happen.
NannieHubbard
August 12, 2012
If you want to write stories, you really need to learn how to spell.
Aimee
September 17, 2012
I lived in Athens for 15 years and my brother Aaron did a report for his class about these tunnels. I was only about 11 and he was in high school. I remember walking into the public library next to the First State Bank. He informed one of the librarians that he was doing a school report about the tunnels and asked her if she knew about them, she then told him to follow her. She took him to the front entrance and there was a walkway leading down to a door, she opened it and told him to go on ahead and see for himself. She waited with me by the front entrance of the library. He was only down there for about 5 minutes until he came out pale as a ghost and wouldn’t say anything. The librarian just laughed in a really creepy laugh. I remember her so vividly, she was an old woman about the age of 55-60 and had white hair with a stripe of black in it. When I was younger I always called her a witch because, well she looked like one. She never looked like she had aged. Anyways, when we got to the car he told me that he saw the tunnel and that it smelt like blood or rusted metal, he said he only went down about 50 feet and turned around because he felt like someone was watching him.
I’m not saying the tunnels are real because I never went down to see for myself, but according to my brother there is an entrance under the Athens public library.
Desiray
June 8, 2013
the tunnels are still there and the kkk is still in athens, texas!!!!
stevie
November 7, 2013
I like the story Aimee, no doubt about the smell. But remember Blood has iron in it, so he was probably just smelling Iron.
d
January 25, 2015
they are there
Wildnshane
March 13, 2015
Where
Tim
March 13, 2015
Bigfoot has an alien hangar that leads off of one of the tunnels. He plays in Fuller park with the KKK.
LUTHER G FOLLIS
February 10, 2016
I AM A 3RD COUSIN TO MEDFORD LEE FULLER WHO IS BERRIEDN FULLER PARK.
THIS IS ALL SO INTERESTING
i love history
February 3, 2017
Late to the party but there IS an old bomb/fallout shelter under the courthouse, past the basement. Our 4-H club meets there and we have went down to it and to the basement various times and it is so junky there could be a tunnel entrance that no one knows about.also, the top of the courthouse used to have a small observatory with a telescope and balcony, but it was dismantled.
Buster
May 27, 2021
why don’t all of you all get together and go look. i would like to know as well