Pendleton Underground Tours

Useful Information

Location:	31 SW Emigrant Ave, Pendleton, OR 97801. Tours start in the gift shop. (45.670513, -118.787108)
Open:	All year Mon, Wed-Sat 10-16. Reservations required. Closed 01-JAN, Thanksgiving, 24-DEC, 25-DEC, 31-DEC. [2014]
Fee:	Adults USD 20, Children (6-12) USD 15. [2023]
Classification:	Underground City
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	D=90 min, Min=4, MinAge=6.
Photography:	allowed, but no videos.
Accessibility:	no, many stairs.
Bibliography:
Address:	Pendleton Underground Tours, 31 SW Emigrant Ave, Pendleton, OR 97801, Tel: +1-541-276-0730. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1989	non-profit Pendleton Underground Tours (P.U.T.) founded.
1990	tour enlarged, including now "Cozy Rooms" bordello, Chinese jails and the Opium Den.
1991	Working Girls Hotel (W.G. Hotel) restored and opened.

Description

The Pendleton Underground Tours show the underground of the city Pendleton. Founded as a non-profit corporation in 1989, it shows both sides of the 19th century, the law-abiding and the illegal side. Location is a series of service tunnels which were constructed by Chinese workers at the end of the 19th century. Those tunnels were first used for storage and transport, but soon became the home of numerous businesses. At this time the town was the entertainment capital of Eastern Oregon, and numerous bars and bordellos were located underground.

Of course there were numerous legal businesses, like the Chinese Laundry and bath house of Hop Sing, which he operated underground for 40 years. But especially during the prohibition many speakeasies and high stakes card rooms went underground. Stops are the Shamrock Card Room, the Empire Ice Cream Parlor, and the Empire Meat Market. Prism glass in the ceiling allows light into the tunnels. Through a secret passageway the Prohibition Card Room is reached. From the Duck Pin Bowling Alley a staircase with 31 stairs leads up to one of Pendleton's 18 bordellos called Cozy Rooms. This was the workplace of Stella Darby and her working girls. And at the end the Chinese living quarters, jail, and opium den are visited.