When surveyor Aaron Higgenbotham discovered Cumberland Caverns
in 1810, he couldn't see its majestic pillars of dripping rock,
its flowstone curtains, or its subterranean waterfalls. Stuck on
a small ledge in the dark, Higgenbotham was as blind to the cave
system's features—one of them a 2,000-foot-long cavern hall—as
the eyeless crayfish that live there. His initial discovery
nevertheless paved the way for nearly 200 years of speleological
findings. Today, guides preserve this 32-mile National Landmark
cavern by leading daily tours through its passages. During
tours, guides point out artifacts left by pre Civil War–era
saltpeter mines, tunnels filled with rare gypsum deposits, and
mysterious inscriptions reading "Shelah Waters - 1869" and
"Millard Fillmore + Stacy." They lead guests among stalagmites
and stalactites to a sound-and-light show that dramatically
retells Bible stories, or into a domed hall that houses a hand-
cut crystal chandelier rescued from a historic Brooklyn theater.
It's in this last space