
and much of anything except for an exceedingly convenient, if terribly shortsighted, place to dump your garbage. When you think about it, it's kind of odd there weren't more cavern nightclubs around.Įventually air conditioning was invented and, by the 1950's, the novelty of hanging out in a cave while dressed to the nines wore off. Lost River Cave offered naturally cooler temperatures for those long hot, summer nights. How cool is that? Very cool, actually - that was part of the attraction! You have to remember that this was before air conditioning.
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It could accommodate several hundred people at once, as well as a stage, bar, and dance floor.

a nightclub! Yes, that's right: a nightclub - and a pretty famous one, too. Sorry, Lost River Cave: you can't be everything.ĭuring the 1930's, Lost River Cave was turned into. While there is a possibility he may have, the evidence points towards him hiding out a friend's house in Bowling Green, instead. Jesse James is reputed to have holed-up in Lost River Cave during the 1860's as well. Many of the nearly 40,000 Union soldiers who camped here between 18, scrawled their names, ranks, and companies on the cave's limestone walls. They used the river as a source of water and the cave for a shelter and training ground. Aha!ĭuring the Civil War, both Confederate and Union troops camped out in the area at different times. Actually, this was how everyone found out that Jennings Creek, located on the other side of Bowling Green, was connected to Lost River Cave: after the mill began operating, sawdust started appearing on the creek's surface - seemingly from out of nowhere. What a great idea: the water powers your mill and whisks away the sawdust and scraps to who knows where. Used by aboriginal Americans as a shelter and water source, the modern life of Lost River Cave began when the site was converted into the first of numerous saw mills. The limestone walls and flowing river of Lost River Cave wind beneath Bowling Green, Kentucky for approximately 7 miles, allowing for tours and even boat rides and kayaking on its subterranean waters - but the cavern had a long and varied history before becoming a tourist destination. Bowling Green, Kentucky's Lost River Cave is a fascinating tourist attraction - but it has also been a nightclub, a Civil War camp, saw mill, and even a refuse dump!
