Co-founder Susan Johnson has lived in Flagstaff since the late 1980s, and by her own count she strolled South San Francisco Street fewer than a hundred times in those first decades. Then came the research for her book Wicked Flagstaff, and suddenly she was down there constantly, walking Mike's Pike, Cottage Avenue, and South Beaver and San Francisco Streets, wondering how she ever missed the eeriness that practically oozes out of every building.
The historic south side, like the darker quarters of many towns, was maligned and ignored for decades. NAU students and alumni kept it alive, with fond memories of the old strip clubs and pool halls within walking distance of north campus. Slowly, then surely, the area turned. Breweries replaced strip clubs. Outdoor patios now sit where the 1990s left garbage. New facades and fresh paint have brightened the streets, but the history of the wild side of town still shows through.
Are there really tunnels under the Southside?
There are remnants, though nobody tours them. While researching Wicked Flagstaff, an employee at Paseo del Norte showed Susan the remains of an underground passage that once ran beneath South San Francisco Street to a men's rooming house, the building that is today's Flagstaff Mission. Paseo del Norte was a licensed brothel at the time, and more than a few trysts were connected, if not conducted, underground. The historic steam tunnels themselves were sealed shut long ago, so if anyone promises you an underground tour of Flagstaff, ask exactly what you will see. We sort what is real from what is rumor in our look at Flagstaff's tunnel systems.
The barrel house that used to be a brothel
The Historic Brewing Barrel House has lived several lives: brothel, strip club, music dive, and now a place to drink good beer in the daylight. Employees once let a few of our guides explore the basement with EVP devices and cameras, and we came away convinced the building has kept some of its former tenants. What the recorders picked up is a story we save for the walk.
There is plenty down here for the history lover and the ghost hunter to meet over, and buildings like the old Basque Tourist Home reward a slow daylight walk too.
Walk this story
We run our Southside walks as private group bookings only. Get in touch with your group size and dates, and we will build the evening around the blocks you just read about. The brothel licenses, the tunnels, the basements: it all lands differently when you are standing on top of it.
