In 1802, a Kentucky man named William Withers who had recently fallen on hard times (read: he had a gambling problem) hatched a plot to plunder the vaults of the South Carolina Bank (then located at 50 Broad St.) by breaking in through an underground tunnel.
Accessing the underground through one of the arched drains in the street, Mr. Withers then got to work tunneling his way from the drains to the vaults.
For 90 days, Withers chiseled his way underneath Charleston. Thanks to an accomplice who made nightly drops of supplies like food + water through a drainage grate, Withers enjoyed good health during the months spent underground.
It was thanks to that same accomplice, though, that our mole man’s mission failed. The friend failed to keep a low profile during the supply drops, and eventually, his sketchy behavior led the authorities straight to the makeshift tunnel.
Legend has it that Withers’ spirit will occasionally pop up late at night near the corner of Broad + Church Streets – earning him the title of Charleston’s “whack-a-mole ghost.”
