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

History

Organ Cave's human history dates back at least to 1704 when that date was scratched on a wall. Flint arrowheads suggest that American Indians had been using the cave as a source of flint. The cave has been used as a source for nitre (saltpeter) and early nitre workers found America's first discovered three toed sloth. Thomas Jefferson presented the sloth to the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia and the specific species of ground sloth was named Megalonyx jeffersonii in his honor.

During the American Civil War, Confederate soldiers mined the cave for nitre for their gunpowder. The cave today has the largest collection of Civil War hoppers.

The cave was opened for tours in 1835 and is one of the earliest commercial caves in the US.

References

External links

• Organ Cave Website