When Sam and Adam Morris opened Your Brother’s Bookstore in downtown Evansville, Indiana last October they expected to be selling mystery novels not discovering their own mystery. While renovating the building and replacing the floors before opening they found an unexpected trapdoor under the floor boards. The trapdoor led to a room below the building that had access to a tunnel under the town’s Main Street. The Evansville African American Museum thought it could have been part of the Underground Railroad but artifacts found below suggested otherwise.
The Morris brothers found a dismantled still, boxes of glass bottles, along with tables and chairs. Local historians speculate that the new bookstore was once a Prohibition era speakeasy or drinking club.
Soon, along with bestsellers, the bookshop will be offering an exhibit based on the mysterious finds under the trapdoor.