Organ Cave - Ronceverte WV - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

From Wikipedia

"Organ Cave is a large and historic cave in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, USA. The surrounding community takes its name from the cave.

In 1973, the Organ Cave System—also known as the Organ–Hedricks Cave System—was registered as a National Natural Landmark for being "the largest cave system in the State, containing many caves, one of which is Organ Cave. Noted also for its saltpeter troughs and vats." (It is now the third-longest known cave in the state, after the Friars Hole Cave System in the same county and the Hellhole System in Pendleton County.) Organ Cave has also been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2005.

History
Significant fossil discoveries bear witness to the early natural history of Organ Cave: giant ground sloth, grizzly bear, nine-banded armadillo, sabre-tooth cat, reindeer and an Ice Age porcupine. Organ Cave's human history is attested by flint arrowheads used by early Native Americans. Evidence of early white settlers in the cave is suggested by the date "1704" scratched on a wall, but this may be a later addition since the first white settlers to Greenbrier County came only in the 1740s.

The cave was used since before 1835 as a source for nitre (saltpeter) for the manufacture of gunpowder. During the American Civil War, Confederate soldiers under the command of General Robert E. Lee again mined the cave for nitre. The cave today has the nation's largest collection of Civil War-era saltpeter hoppers. Studies have shown the cave dirt is high in calcium nitrate, which was turned into potassium nitrate using these hoppers.

Organ Cave was first surveyed by members of the National Speleological Society in July 1948. For many years it was considered the longest cave in the world. As of 11 March 2022, the Organ Cave System had 38.452 miles (61.882 km) of surveyed cave passage making it the 55th longest cave in the world, the 16th longest in the United States, and the 3rd longest in West Virginia."

(visit link)

Street address: Route WV 63 Ronceverte, WV United States 24970 County / Borough / Parish: Greenbrier County Year listed: 2005 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event (Industry, Entertainment/Recreation) Periods of significance: 1950-1974, 1925-1949, 1900-1924, 1875-1899, 1850-1874, 1825-1849, 1800-1824 Historic function: Industry/Processing/Extraction, Landscape, Recreation And Culture Current function: Landscape, Recreation And Culture Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Secondary Website 2: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   10/11/2023 Don.Morfe visited it