Pratt's Castle -- Richmond

• Locate on the Virginia Lore Map at Platial


• The following narrative, thanks to Scott from VT Underground:
  
  You've probably heard of Pratt's Castle before. If not, it's the building on the cover of the "Lost Virginia - Vanished Architecture of the Old Dominion" book. A Google search will turn up more information, plus I have a little information if you're interested.
  
  Anyways, my grandmother used to work in Pratt's Castle, back in the 1940's. She got her grandfather (my great-great-grandfather) a job installing some sort of heating system in the house (he installed steam heating systems for a living). While working in the basement, he noticed a small hole in one wall, that upon closer examination appeared to lead into some sort of empty space. Curious, he enlarged the hole, until he could see that there was a hidden room on the other side. The owner of Pratt's Castle at that time had no idea there was anything back there, so they knocked through the wall. Much to their surprise, the hidden room was actually a cell... like a jail cell. Nobody knew it's purpose, or why it had been sealed up and forgotten.
  
  Now, I do know for a fact that there was a skeleton or two found in that cell... but I'm not sure if my great-great-grandfather found them, or if they were unearthed when the house was demolished. Either way, pretty creepy. Nobody knows who they were, or how they got there.
  
  ALSO, my grandmother remembers Pratt's Castle as having an escape tunnel of sorts, that ran from the house all the way down to either the James River, or (more likely) the Kanawha Canal. I expect that this tunnel is still there, although probably sealed up. I've got a standing offer of a case of beer (plus my eternal admiration) for the first person who finds this tunnel.