Caverns Of Virginia

For generations, enterprising people in the southern Appalachians have turned the region's extensive network of caves into a strange, fascinating genre of tourist attraction. Visitors pay admission to take a tour deep underground, learning a little about history and geology while puzzling over lit-up rock formations said to resemble anything from Niagara Falls to the Capitol dome. Then off go the lights, enveloping the travelers in total darkness--until the guide flips them back on and welcomes folks back into the safety of the inevitable gift shop. Show caves, as Douglas Reichert Powell explains in Endless Caverns, are at once predictable and astonishing, ancient and modern, eerie and sentimental. Their story sparks memories of a fleeting cool moment deep underground during a hot summer vacation, capturing in microcosm the history and culture of a region where a deeply rooted sense of place collides with constant change. Reichert Powell takes readers along on his journey through the past and present of Appalachia's show caves, highlighting the characters who have owned and operated them, the ways the attractions have developed and changed over the years, and the odd intrigue that still leads people to buy their ticket and head underground. Tourist tastes may shift as interstates whisk travelers past the backroads and on to trendier destinations, but the show cave--like Appalachia itself--endures.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

Explore the mysterious side of Virginia with these strange tales of Bigfoot, buried treasure, phantom dogs, UFOs, ghosts, and more. The stunning mountains of Virginia offer spectacular views and endless outdoor activities, yet they also hold secrets. A nineteenth-century cache of gold is buried in the hills. Nine-foot giants once walked the ridges, pre-Columbian explorers built homes on isolated mountaintops and a ghost town lies deep in the Jefferson National Forest. The mountains conceal canines that walk upright, black panthers and a resurgent mountain lion population. The hide-and-seek champion of the world, Bigfoot, lurks in the dark hollows, phantom dogs pace the back roads and aggressive monkeys swing through the trees. UFOs crisscross the skies, and ghosts haunt the caverns below. Join Denver Michaels, local author and explorer of the unexplained, as he explores these mysteries and many more.