7/23/2023 0 Comments Crystal onyx cave toursIn doing so it became the first “commercial” cave in the state and further more, one of Pennsylvania’s first bona fide tourist attractions. But it wouldn’t be until 1929 that necessary modifications were made to the cave’s interior to allow curious visitors to safely navigate the subterranean passages and see with the help of electric lights what earlier explorers would’ve seen with the aid of torches, lamps and candles. But by the late 1920’s, as Indian Echo Caverns was giving it’s first commercial tours, another Pennsylvania Dutch Country cave would’ve already been in operation as a successful tourist attraction for nearly 60 years.Ĭrystal Cave, located 5 miles east of Kutztown in Berks County was discovered in November of 1871 and in less than one year was operating as a successful tourist business. Paleo-Indians inhabited the area for thousands of years prior to the era that witnessed the first contact between Europeans and the Suquehannock, so it is possible that the cave was first entered by humans several thousand years ago.īeing relatively large in volume and length as well as generously endowed with eye catching depositional features like stalactites, stalagmites and flowstone it is not surprising that the Swatara Grotto, known as Hummelstown Cave or Echo Cave by the late 19th century, would eventually become a modern tourist attraction. These earlier tribes, who would never know any contact with Europeans, certainly would of been aware of the large entrance to the cave that would’ve been reachable via a six mile canoe trip up the Swatara Creek. Originally being an offshoot of the Iroquis from New York State the Susquehannock were believed to have conquered and assimilated Indians already living in the Susquehanna river valley in the 1300’s. Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the late 17th century it is likely that the local Susquehannock Indians knew of the cave existence although there is no archaeological evidence that they entered or used it in any fashion. Known today as Indian Echo Caverns, this large cave whose entrance opens onto the Swatara Creek 10 miles east of Harrisburg was originally deeded to a Hugh Hays in 1754 from the proprietors of the Pennsylvania colony.The cave was known then as the Swatara Grotto and most likely had been attracting visitors for a half century or more. One in particular had been known of for as long as Europeans had been active in the region. Some of them however are large enough to constitute well know landmarks. Most of the caves are small in size when compared to other karst regions in United States, but none the less would’ve been notable features of the local landscape. The Pennsylvania Dutch Country is home to hundreds of caves, thousands of springs and tens of thousands of sinkholes. These edenic lowlands not only gave rise to world class soil but also to a very distinctive type of landscape known as karst.Ĭaused by limestone’s chemical vulnerability to solutionally aggressive rain water, karst landscapes are typified by the presence of sinkholes, sinking streams, large springs and caves. Another characteristic of the limestone was it’s tendency to form the low lying, rolling topography in between ridges of more resistant shale and sandstone. This prime acreage they found mainly in the valleys and more often than not the bedrock beneath their farms was limestone whose chemical composition was ideal for the creation of mineral rich ultra-fertile topsoil. They surveyed the landscape and noted where the oak trees grew the biggest and the underbrush the thickest. They looked for well watered land with an abundance of springs and streams upon which to forge a new life, in a new world after a long and often deadly Atlantic crossing. As Germans flooded into the region in the early 18th century, fleeing wars and seeking land, they quickly settled on what would become some of the most productive farm land in the world. There is a distinct connection between the agricultural potency of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country and the three commercial caves located within it - limestone.
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