From the secret rooms of the world's train stations to the hidden apartments within iconic,
international landmarks, today we look at Secret Places In Famous Locations.
Number 14.
Trafalgar Police Station In the southeast corner of London's Trafalgar
Square, a seemingly old yet innocuous light pole sits comfortably atop a small, enclosed
room, fitting in with the historical English city.
But this fixture is more than just a means for illuminating the city streets...the room
within is actually London's smallest police station!
Built in the 1920s, this room was constructed as a watch-post for officers responding to
the common protests the city was known for, but today it simply serves as storage for
street cleaners.
Number 13.
Radio City Suite One of the most famous landmarks and venues
in New York City is Manhattan's own Radio City Music Hall.
Despite its history as a host for a wide variety of award shows, legendary concerts, and even
a handful of highly publicized sporting events, few realize the mythic music hall also contains
an apartment!
Well above the audience in the auditorium and mezzanines below, this suite was once
home to Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel, a popular theatre impresario who garnered a highly respected
reputation in the industry organizing productions within the Radio City Music Hall.
The Art Deco architects responsible for the building constructed the room just for Rothafel,
as a way to show thanks for his incredible work.
This Roxy Suite is uninhabited now, but can be rented out for luxury events.
Number 12.
Little Compton Street Beneath the grates of the Charing Cross Road
in London, a remnant from the English city's past gives passersby an insight at a street
that used to be.
Nestled in the service tunnels that run below the busy bookstore shopping hub are signs
for the now extinct Little Compton Street.
This street used to be a commonly used avenue near Trafalgar Square, but in 1896 it was
replaced with an office block.
Many assume the signs in the tunnels below the city hint at a buried street, but this
is simply a common misconception.
Witnesses are instead looking at the Cambridge Circus Utility Tunnels which feature the street
signs as a token of remembrance rather than ruins.
Number 11.
Flinders Street Ballroom Flinders Street Station is by and large the
busiest train station in Australia, serving almost a hundred thousand riders a day.
The gorgeous gold and brown building is home to more than travelers and trains, though,
as a sectioned-off space within the station was once the talk of the town around Melbourne
more than fifty years ago.
The Flinders Street Ballroom brought in guests from across the land, with public dances filling
the room from wall to wall before attendants would leave to catch a train home the same
night.
It wasn't alone in providing recreation, though, with Flinders Station once containing rooms
dedicated to libraries, night classes, billiards, and exercise.
Modern entrance to the ballroom is allowed by invitation only, with seldom-occurring
lottery drawings granting admittance as well.
Number 10.
Track 61 Deep below the world famous Waldorf Astoria
hotel in New York sits a secret railway track that has been operational for over 90 years!
Originally meant to store unused railroad cars and operate as a powerhouse for the tracks,
the reconstruction of the Waldorf Astoria in 1931 made it a convenient passenger station
for hotel guests.
Use was reserved for elite guests and over the years it has served military generals,
governors, and famous President Franklin Roosevelt as he used the transport to hide his medical
condition from the public.
Track 61 was confirmed to have been prepared for use as recently as the George W. Bush
administration, meaning the secret station could still apparently be operational today...and
potentially in use!
Number 9.
Lucky 7 Lounge With a history of beloved works like the Cars,
Incredibles, Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story franchises under their belts, one can only
imagine the secrets of Pixar Studios and how they cultivate creativity.
One trick up the animation giant's sleeve has been revealed in recent years, though,
and it comes in the form of a hidden nook-turned-lounge.
Referred to as the Lucky 7 Lounge, or Love Lounge as frequent visitor Steve Jobs once
called it, this small room was transformed by Animator Andrew Gordon into a funky, throwback
speakeasy with a wall signed by celebrities like Tim Allen, Michael Eisner, Randy Newman
and Roy Disney.
The entrance to this secret passage is currently said to be stationed behind a sliding bookshelf
with a hidden button located somewhere among the books.
Number 8.
Grand Central Tennis Court New York's Grand Central Station hosts nearly
750 thousand passengers a day.
But above these commuters, unbeknownst to most, is a high-priced tennis court that has
served New Yorkers since the 1960s.
Established as Vanderbilt Athletic Club, the tennis courts were accompanied by a 65-foot
indoor ski slope originally.
Donald Trump took over the property in 1984, though, and made it into an exclusive court
for the wealthy, charging 155 dollars an hour with no credit cards accepted — a fairly
exorbitant amount for the time.
The club has since closed and reopened under new management, now accepting of players from
across the public spectrum.
Hourly prices now range from seventy to 275 dollars depending on the day and time you
look to reserve, with various deals offering greater options to the public at large.
Number 7.
103rd Floor Empire State Building Tall buildings are common attraction in the
world's metropolises, but few are more famous than the Empire State Building.
The gorgeous view from the building's observation deck on the 86th floor has been featured in
dozens of films and drawn millions of visitors.
Further up, the supposed top deck of the skyscraper offers an even higher perspective of New York
from the safety of a thick-paned window-filled room.
Yet, above that room is an even taller observation deck, sealed off from the public.
This mysterious 103rd floor is composed of a small balcony and low wall, making it disastrously
dangerous without supervision.
Celebrities are typically the only visitors in modern times, with people like Taylor Swift,
Vanessa Hudgens, and Ariana Grande being among the few to experience it in recent years.
Number 6.
Club 33 If you feel fancy grabbing a FastPass at Disneyland
and skipping the lines of other ride-goers, imagine how elite it must feel to be a member
of the theme park's exclusive Club 33.
Named for the address of 33 Royal Street, the location of its of the club's private
restaurant in Disneyland's New Orleans Square, this private club offers members other exclusive
amenities located around the park!
These include access to Le Salon Nouveau and 1901, a pair of lounges that are closed to
the public within Disneyland and California Adventure respectively.
These are the only locations in the park that serve alcohol, which is a pricey privilege
to afford thanks to individual membership fees costing an initial 25 thousand dollars,
with an additional payment of 10 thousand dollars due annually.
Club 33 has expanded since its development in the late 1960s, now providing separate
club memberships at Disney's theme parks in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Walt Disney World in
Florida.
Number 5.
Colosseum Tunnels Within the belly of the monument to bloodsport
famously known as the Colosseum of Rome, a maze of tunnels once housed the various ferocious
animals used in ancient combat against gladiators.
For centuries these corrals were hidden from the public eye, but thanks to a 1.4 million
dollar renovation project in 2010, the tunnels were finally opened to the public.
Now, the world can witness and experience the mystifying mechanisms and atmosphere of
these underground pens which held animals as large as boars, bears, crocodiles and lions.
These tunnels also contained a passage for gladiators on their way to the arena, where
sound from the crowd above would be amplified to an unimaginably loud roar.
Number 4.
Niagara Cave Millions visit the cascading waters of Niagara
Falls State Park for its uniquely cherished and natural beauty.
Near the iconic waterfalls is a much darker, lesser known monument, though it may be equally
historically impactful, depending on if you believe the stories surrounding it.
Found sunken into the limestone wall of Niagara Gorge is a small cove named by Seneca Natives
as "The Cave of Evil Spirits".
Legend goes that Canadian explorer Robert Cavalier de LaSalle received a foreboding
visit from an Evil Spirit that prophesied his impending doom.
Within the next decade, LaSalle went broke and was slain by his own men after venturing
west, all events the Spirit had warned would pass.
Number 3.
Mount Rushmore Records Room Despite what Disney and Nicolas Cage might
have led you to believe, there is no city of gold hidden beneath Mount Rushmore.
But that doesn't mean the famed American monument isn't concealing any secrets.
Behind the head of Abraham Lincoln is a stone room, only big enough to cram a few visitors
in at a time.
In here, copies of major American historical documents like the Bill of Rights, Constitution,
and Declaration of Independence remain sealed within a teakwood box, stationed under layers
of titanium and granite.
These records sit here in preservation for Americans thousands of years from now and
as such this records room is closed to the public, who would have a hard enough time
accessing the isolated location on foot regardless!
Number 2.
Eiffel Apartment If it wasn't enough to build one of the greatest,
most awe-inspiring constructs in the world, architect Gustave Eiffel went the extra mile
to solidify himself as the most envy-inspiring man in Paris by building himself a home at
the top.
During his time at the tower, Eiffel would receive numerous invaluable offers from Parisians
to stay in the private space for even just a night.
But time and again, he would refuse the offers, only hosting guests of high prestige...such
as Thomas Edison.
This cozy apartment is now host to mannequins of Eiffel and Edison and open to the public
to view via window, but not enter...most likely to the chagrin of Eiffel's ghost.
Number 1.
Liberty Torch Room Some may be surprised that the famous torch
belonging to the Statue of Liberty actually contains a viewing balcony, containing one
of the most breathtaking views in the city!
Initially closed in 1916 due to damage from foreign sabotage at a munitions depot in the
surrounding bay, the torch has remained sheltered from the public, even after renovations to
the statue in 1984.
Interested parties can still experience the view though thanks to modern technology, as
the Statue of Liberty offers a live webcam stream of the torch's perspective.