Caves of Chattanooga
Contributors: G. Thomas Rea, Editor
Edition: First
Publisher: National Speleological Society; Brand: National Speleological Society
Published: April 2007
Place of publication: Huntsville, AL
Language: eng
Format: 8.5 x 11
Number of pages: 192
ISBN-13: 9781879961272
Subjects: Cave Exploration
First sentence: Chattanooga is a beautiful and delightful city that just happens to sit near the middle of one of the most cave-rich areas of the United States.
Description: This book describes nine caves in the greater Chattanooga area that are either currently open to the public or that have been open to the public at some time in the past.  The caves included are Lookout Mountain Cave, Mystery Falls Cave, Ruby Falls Cave, Raccoon Mountain Caverns, Nickajack Cave, Sequoyah Caverns, Mystic Caverns, Russell Cave, and Wonder Cave.

Each cave is described from it's earliest human use, frequently by prehistoric peoples, through white settlement, saltpeter mining, and commercial developement.  Nickajack Cave, for example, was used by prehistoric Native Americans, was the site of a Cherokee Indian village in the early 1800s, a saltpeter mine during both the War of 1812 and the Civil War, the site of Civil War activity by both the North and the South, and a commercial cave in the last 1800s up through the 1940s.  Today the cave is a Wildlife Refuge for rare and endangered bats.  The cave was the site on an incredible hoax in 1927, country music star Johnny Cash attempted to commit suicide there, and the site of a spectacular rescue in 1992.  Every cave described in the book has a long and interesting history.
Notes: This book is rich in history.  There is a very thorough Index to help the researcher.
Table of contents: label: 1
title: Lookout Mountain Cave
pagenum: 13; label: 2
title: Mystery Falls Cave
pagenum: 31; label: 3
title: Ruby Falls Cave
pagenum: 49; label: 4
title: Raccoon Mountain Caverns
pagenum: 65; label: 5
title: Nickajack Cave
pagenum: 85; label: 6
title: Sequoyah Caverns
pagenum: 111; label: 7
title: Mystic Caverns
pagenum: 127; label: 8
title: Russell Cave National Monument
pagenum: 141; label: 9
title: Wonder Cave
pagenum: 161