Ohio History
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| Crystal Digger |
It now came time to leave the underground world. This involved climbing a straight 63 steps back to ground level! We stopped to catch our breath and learn a bit more about the Ohio Caverns' history. After being discovered accidentally by a farmhand in 1897, just over a quarter mile caverns was opened up for tours by the public (who promptly removed all the crystals and covered the walls with grafitti).
New owners came in 1922, and they hired excavators to remove the mud and open up almost 3 1/2 miles of tunnels. They strung electric lights and laid gravel walkways which were later paved with cement. This is the part of the Caverns we just saw on the Natural Wonders tour. To celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Caverns' discovery, the Historical Tour was opened in 1997. It includes the area first toured by the public, but does not feature as many crystal formations.
I thought the picture above was appropriate for discussing the hours of underground labor that went into these Caverns. Actually, this and several other crystal geodes featuring miniature figures were for sale in the Ohio Caverns gift shop. This one only measured about 3" across. They were such intricate creations!
2 comments:
That sure is small, but still so detailed.
Wow, it must have taken hours to carve that.
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