CAVE CITY EXPEDITION!

 A friend told me she had passed this sign on Highway 167 in Cave City, Arkansas, dozens of times,  but never gave much thought to what it represented.  

Although the sign was not familiar to me, I had been wanting to attend the Cave City Watermelon Festival for a long time, and, therefore, was following their Facebook page, to get a schedule of events.  Seeing that a new event (a tour of Crystal River Cave) had been added in 2023, made me eager to learn more!

From the Facebook page, I learned that there was a limited number of tour spots available, and all of them had already been filled.

But thankfully, the owner of the property was so encouraged by the overwhelming response to the tour opportunity, that she and her family decided to offer more tours, even after the weekend of the Watermelon Festival had ended.  This photo is of Irma Carrigan, who became my contact person, for arranging to tour her amazing property. 

And much to my delight, some of the famous watermelons were still available in Cave City, on the late summer day of my visit! So, of course I bought one!

On the day of my tour, Irma's granddaughter, Lexi,  led the tour .  It was very helpful that she was wearing a voice amplifier microphone, so that everyone could hear, even though they were not right next to her.

We learned from her that the buildings were constructed in the 1930's, which is also known as the era of "The Great Depression", in the United States.

We learned that Hubert Clarence Carpenter , a native of Cave City, bought the land at the mouth of Crystal River Cave, in 1934, for the purpose of building a tourist camp.  The front of the tourist camp is shown in this photo, as one sees it when they are driving on Highway 167.  

As you can see from the vintage postcard below, the basic structure of the attraction has not changed.  The clue that the postcard was "vintage", was the fact that it only required a one cent postage stamp!  The description on the back reads, "Crystal River Cave Camp on Highway No. 11.  One of Arkansas' wonders.  The coolest place in Arkansas for a vacation to suit the whole family."  When one remembers that it was built before the arrival of air conditioning, its location near the entrance of the always chilly cave, may have contributed to the boast that it truly was the "coolest"  (temperature-wise) location for a balmy summer evening in Arkansas!  In fact, Crystal River Cave Camp is said to be the oldest motorcourt of its kind in Arkansas!

Mr. Carpenter put a local stone mason, named Prince Matlock, in charge of construction of the facility.  Mr. Matlock built the elaborate stone exterior of mainly local fieldstone.  If local stone also had quartz crystals, they were highlighted by use in arches, as in photo shown below.

The builders made sure this was a "top of the line" tourist camp, by making the cabins have an arch-framed carport, entrance lamppost, exterior chimneys, decorative parapets along the roofline, and patios with low walls:

There was also an outdoor, wood-burning fireplace, that could be used for cooking:

Records indicate that the builders paid locals 50 cents per 15-gallon washtub full, for the round geodes that came from nearby Sharp County.  Some examples of the larger of these geodes can be seen accenting the A-shaped roof line and door/window openings in this photo:

Smaller geodes were used to line the area under the arches:

Geodes are also prominent above this arch.  Note also, the rock arches constructed over the rain gutters.

I was amused at the makeshift device the tourguide used to point out particular features---the metal handle of a vintage flyswatter (now, most fly swatters are completely plastic!)  No high-tech laser pointer would seem appropriate for a historical structure almost a century old!  The guide is pointing out the crystal rock and geodes that the stone mason used to make one of several cross designs on the buildings.  The guide told us the builders were people with a strong Christian faith background.  

The photos below show two of several cross designs on the exterior.  Can you see how one of these crosses has a masonry outline, and one does not?   Thick wide mortar between stones was part of the style of some stone houses built in the 1930's in this area.  They were nicknamed "giraffe houses" because of their resemblance to the pattern seen on giraffe skin.                              

Here one can see that pieces of petrified wood were used in the masonry.  Notice also the large orange-colored round stone, incorporated into this column.  These are called "Prim Round Rocks" because of the Arkansas location where they are most commonly seen.  They are large, spherical sandstone boulders, commonly ranging in size from one foot to four feet.

The tour guide mentioned that according to legend, there is at least one rock from every state in the union, as it numbered in 1934.  Perhaps the builders wanted the guests to have a way to "connect" from what ever state they traveled from---like these arches "connect"one building to another, without serving any real purpose, other than a pleasing design to showcase more geodes!

The guide told us the designs behind, and on either side of her, were intended to look like flames, shooting out from a torch.

The guide also said that the Smithsonian Museum had offered to purchase one of the stones used in the masonry, because it was a face effigy.  They said they would replace the original with a duplicate.  However, at this time, the owners had turned down their offer.  Can you see a "face"?

The stone masons used their craft for things besides just buildings.  They made bird baths (now holding a fern), retaining walls, numerous arches, and chimneys.

In some cases, the stone masons used the natural features near the cave entrance to form a base for their arch:

Although indoor restrooms were not included in the original tourist camp lodging, some of them later on, had a restroom added by converting the small carport into a rest room.  Likewise, I was glad to see a men and women's restroom was available near the cave entrance, for those day visitors who came to tour the cave.  The restroom building can be seen to the left of the arch.

Besides the developer wanting to be sure his Christian faith was evident in the facility design, he also wanted to page homage to the Native American heritage of the area (Remember their highway entrance sign, depicted a Native American in full regalia?).  It is said that Native Americans used the cave for centuries as a gathering place, followed by pioneers who came to settle on the land.  The builders used arrowheads they found, in some of the exterior wall designs, such as this "sunburst" design on one of the porches. 

After the tour of the exterior structures, it was time to descend into the cave:

The tour guide relayed legends and facts about the cave to our group:

Although it is hard to see because the water is so clear, this photo below shows the Crystal River, as it flows through the lower room of the cave:

It is said that no one has ever found the beginning or the end of the Crystal River that flows through here.  However, the locals have observed that the river levels rise and fall in sync with the rise and fall of the Mississippi River, which is 150 miles away.  Notice the pipe submerged in the water?  In the past, the Crystal River supplied drinking water for the local school.  There is a historical advertisement from 1902, announcing that sales from a lemonade stand set up for the annual Fourth of July picnic, would be used to buy a windmill, to pump water from the cave.  History records also indicate that the room we were standing in served as the "town refrigerator", where many pioneer families stored their milk, butter, and perishables, to keep them from spoiling (this was before the advent of electric refrigerators). 

 

 It is doubtful that warning signs such as the one below were there during days of the pioneers, but if a visitor to the area in present day is interested in seeing the property, they will need to know it is not a completely wheelchair-accessible place:

Seeing all this fascinating rock work seemed like the perfect visual aid for one of my First Place 4 Health (www.FirstPlace4Health.com) memory verses that had the word "rock" in it. "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."  Matthew 7:24-25   The Crystal Cave Tourist Court is definitely built on a rock!

Although a cross design is significant to me because of my Christian faith, a cross design like the one below might be significant to a geologist, simply because of the numerous geological specimens within its borders.  I felt very

blessed to have the opportunity to visit this "geologists' delight", and it gave me "MILES OF SMILES"!  TRICIA