Main entry:

Brick, Greg A.

Title & Author:

Subterranean twin cities / Greg Brick.

Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, ©2009.

Description:

xvii, 226 pages : illustrations, maps

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-217) and index.
Introduction -- The geology of the sewers -- The early caves. Quest for the inner sanctum : Carver's Cave at midnight ; A wild goose chase through the sewers : the hunt for Fountain Cave -- Buried rivers. The urban Nile : the subterranean streams of St. Paul ; Among the Spice Islands : Minneapolis's underground rivers -- The great sandbox. The cave under the castle : Brewery caves ; The medieval temples of Mushroom Valley : St. Paul's west side ; Velvet underground : abandoned sand mines -- The milling district. Subterranean Venice : Minneapolis's mill tunnels ; Boat ride to oblivion : Chute's Cave ; Down the rabbit hole : Nicollet Island caves -- Utilities. A lonely day under the mortuary : the Fort Road labyrinth ; Behind the silver door : utility labyrinths -- Pluto's kingdom. Lost world : Schieks Cave ; The big white : Channel Rock Cavern -- Sources and further reading -- Publication history -- Index.

Summary:

"We tend to send things underground that we are not interested in ever seeing again. Sewage. Garbage. In the past, we have used the underground to age such provisions as cheese and beer. In Subterranean Twin Cities, geologist, historian, and urban speleologist Greg Brick takes us on an adventurous, educational, and—thankfully—sanitary tour beneath the streets and into the myriad tunnels, caves, and industrial spaces that make up the Twin Cities’ fascinating and surprisingly vast underground landscape.
In this groundbreaking tour, the first of its kind of the Twin Cities, Brick mines the stories that lie below the city surface. Beginning with an accessible history on the geology of the area—including the giant cone-shaped mollusk Endoceras, whose thirteen-foot-long fossils are found in the Mississippi gorge—Brick guides us into a series of astounding firsthand expeditions. We follow him into St. Paul’s historic Carver’s Cave, with its stories of sunken treasure; through the many caves constructed for brewing, cheese ripening, and mushroom farming; and into the world of nineteenth-century show caves for tourists. We even find ourselves in the “Shangri-la” of urban caves: the extensive Schiek’s Cave seventy-five feet beneath the busy streets of downtown Minneapolis.
From spending the onset of Y2K in Carver’s Cave (just in case) to long hours wading in underground rivers, Brick proves himself a knowledgeable, wry, and daring guide. Subterranean Twin Cities shines a headlamp (with extra batteries, of course) into the captivating labyrinths beneath the Twin Cities and reminds us that what we see aboveground is really only half of the story."--pub. desc.

Resources:
Table of contents
An electronic book accessible through the World Wide Web; click to view

ISBN:

9780816645978 (pbk. ; alk. paper)
0816645973 (pbk. ; alk. paper)

Subject:

Caves Minnesota Minneapolis Guidebooks.
Caves Minnesota Saint Paul Guidebooks.
Underground areas Minnesota Minneapolis Guidebooks.
Underground areas Minnesota Saint Paul Guidebooks.
Zones souterraines Minnesota Minneapolis Guides.
Zones souterraines Minnesota Saint Paul Guides.
Caves
Underground areas
Höhlensystem
Stadtgeografie
Minneapolis (Minn.) Guidebooks.
Saint Paul (Minn.) Guidebooks.
Minnesota Guidebooks.
Minnesota Guides.
Minnesota
Minnesota Minneapolis
Minnesota Saint Paul
Minneapolis, Minn.
Saint Paul, Minn.

Form/genre:

Guidebooks.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 261783
Call No.: BIB 192832
Status: Available