Georgetown University is home to a series of underground tunnels that go between the school buildings and downtown Washington, DC. There are many theories as to why these tunnels are built.
Some insist that the tunnels are simply used for heat pipes from newer to older buildings on campus. This makes sense, as the school was founded in 1789 and is home to some very dated buildings.
There are others who suggest that the tunnels were part of an underground railway. During the Civil War, Georgetown was used as a hospital to house soldiers from the North and South. In fact, the colors of Georgetown, blue and gray, are said to represent both the Union and Confederate sides. It would make a lot of sense that any Southern Underground would want to terminate at least in Washington, DC, the capital of the Union and a place where slavery was illegal.
A third, more popular theory is based on Georgetown’s ability as a backup Congress (where Congress would hold its meetings if something happened to the capitol). If any attack were to occur on the nation’s capital, many members of the executive and legislative branches would be taken into the tunnel system as an escape route from the attack. As such, many of the world’s top politicians, including the president himself, would have traveled through the tunnels that lead directly under the university campus. The tunnels, in this theory, were escape routes and bunkers for important politicians and Jesuits, as well as a meeting place for very important secret meetings.
Although many of the tunnels are now said to be boarded up at the ends (therefore they would not lead to central Washington), the Georgetown student body has long been fascinated by the importance of the tunnels and where they may lead. Adventurous students search the school for tunnel entrances, hoping to travel through them to see where they may lead. There are rumors of many entrances to the tunnels, but the most popular seems to be the one at Healy Hall.
There are doors on the side of the building that are always open and lead directly into a maze of tunnels. Upon entering you will see many secret society type drawings on the wall. The Healy tunnels appear to end in a spit and contain heat pipes along the way, lending credence to the heat pipe theory. Although other tunnel entrances are said to go much further into the city, the farthest I’ve heard of anyone traveling is 3 blocks from the main campus gates.