Every old town has a tunnel rumor. Mount Dora’s version: during Prohibition, bootleggers ran tunnels from the Lakeside Inn to the lake to move liquor off boats.
The city says there are no tunnels. The fire department says they’ve never seen one. Old timers at the bar say “my grandpa saw one” and wink. The story goes that when the lake was low in the 1950s, kids found a brick arch near the shore. The city filled it in “for safety.”
It makes sense. The Lakeside Inn was open through Prohibition. The lake had boats. Orlando was dry but thirsty. A tunnel would be useful. But engineers say the soil is sand and water table is high. A tunnel would flood or collapse.
Still, the story persists because Mount Dora likes a good myth. Ghost tour guides mention it. Bartenders tell it on slow nights. The Inn leans into it with a “Prohibition Cocktail” menu. Did tunnels exist? Probably not. Did people run liquor? Absolutely. They used the dock, the woods, and the night.
The tunnel is better as a story. It says something about the town: we follow the rules, unless the rules are dumb, and then we get creative.
Local Tip: Ask your server at the Lakeside Inn about the tunnels. If they smile and say “no comment,” tip extra. You’re part of the bit now.