Little Lamplight Little Lamplight is a pre - War underground cavern tourist attraction made into a settlement in the Capital Wasteland , run and populated entirely by children under the age of 16 . Background . Discovered in the late 19th century , Lamplight Caverns was converted into a tourist attraction during the 1920s . Due to the location ' s strong government ties , Vault - Tec achieved ownership of several portions of the caves , for the purpose of Vault 87 ' s construction . < section begin = " Background " / > On October 23 , 2077 , 82 students from Early Dawn Elementary went on a field trip to Lamplight Caverns with a couple of teachers ( including the fourth grade teacher , Carrie Delaney and a few parent chaperones ) . There the group spent many hours touring the deep caverns . Just as they were packing up to leave , the caverns began to shake . The kids began to scream as the lights went out , and one man from the group went out to see what was going on . Upon his return , he informed those within that the entire Washington , D . C . area was covered in . The adults slowly died off or left , some leaving the cavern , others being injured by accidents inside . Eventually , Carrie Delaney , being the last of the adult survivors , decided to go scavenging and never returned - - leaving the kids to fend for themselves . One of the older kids , Jason Grant , assumed the position of mayor after no one else would step forward . Within the next month of exploring the caves the children came upon Vault 87 , where they pounded on the door for hours , pleading for assistance . Finally , one of the adults inside Vault 87 told the children to go away ( saying that they were " already dead " ) . This was likely Peter Stevens , a vault technician stationed near the door to Little Lamplight , who thought that the children were hallucinations of his dead son . As a result , the kids turned against all " Mungo s , " kicking out residents once they turned 16 . Most , if not of all , of these adults then head to the settlement of Big Town , after being told that a " good life " awaits them there . Out of the remaining kids , Joseph teaches the kids classes . According to him , a few scavengers brought back holotapes for basic schooling , such as reading , basic math and encyclopedias from vault s . < section end = " Background " / > As of 2287 , the settlement ' s fate is unknown , although MacCready is alive for the events of " Fallout 4 " , meaning he would ' ve been forced to leave by 2281 when he turned sixteen . Considering the age of MacCready at the time the Sole Survivor meets him most , if not all , of the children who had appeared in " Fallout 3 " ' s Little Lamplight would have likely been kicked out . Layout . Lamplight caverns . A small cave descends to the town ' s entrance area , which is protected by a fence with a large front gate . Beyond the fence , a small area with the Little Lamplight office building , the town ' s medical office and school , opens into two small corridors . The first corridor leads to the restaurant Spelunkers , situated in a cave with pools of water , and the Great Chamber beyond . The second tunnel leads to a medium sized cave which contains the Lamplight restrooms , and the souvenir shop , the town ' s store . Another access to the Great Chamber can be found here , as well as a small path to the town ' s back gate , leading to Murder Pass . The Great Chamber . The Great Chamber area is a huge cavern , with wooden walkways connecting various suspended rooms . It serves as the main living area for the Little Lamplighter s , containing a number of bed s . The floor of the cave is partially filled with rubble and slightly - irradiated water . Besides the two exits leading to Lamplight caverns , there are two cavities in the chamber ' s wall ; one contains a workbench , and the other leads to Vault 87 ' s Reactor Chamber . Appearances . Little Lamplight appears only in " Fallout 3 " and is mentioned in " Fallout 4 " .