View source for Earth:Organ Cave

{{Short description|Historic cave}}
{{Infobox valley
| name            = Organ Cave
| other_name      = 
| photo           = OrganCave1.jpg 
| photo_caption   = The main historical (and commercial) entrance to Organ Cave
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| map             = West Virginia
| map_caption     = Location of Organ Cave in West Virginia
| location        = {{wipe|United States}}, West Virginia, Greenbrier
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| coordinates     = {{coord|37|43|05|N|80|26|13|W|display=inline,title}}
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| elevation       = 
| elevation_m     = 
| elevation_ft    = 2188
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| length          = {{convert| 38.452|mi}}
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}}
[[File:OrganCave2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The eponymous "organ" formation in Organ Cave]]
[[File:WV Organ Cave System.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Salt petre vats in Organ Cave]]

'''Organ Cave''' is a large and historic [[Earth:Cave|cave]] in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, USA. The surrounding community takes its name from the cave.<ref name="WVDCH">[http://www.wvculture.org/History/agrext/organcav.html A History Of Organ Cave Community]</ref>

In 1973, the '''Organ Cave System'''—also known as the '''Organ–Hedricks Cave System'''<ref>Davies, William E. (1958, 1965), "Caverns of West Virginia", ''Geological and Economic Survey'', Volume XIX A (with 1965 Supplement), West Virginia Geological Survey, pp. 39, 41, 112; Supplement p. 22.</ref>—was registered as a National Natural Landmark for being "the largest cave system in the State, containing many caves, one of which is Organ Cave.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nnlandmarks/site.htm?Site=ORCA-WV|title=National Natural Landmarks – National Natural Landmarks (U.S. National Park Service)|website=www.nps.gov|language=en|access-date=2019-04-13|quote="Year designated: 1973"}}</ref> Noted also for its [[Chemistry:Potassium nitrate|saltpeter]] troughs and vats." (It is now the third-longest known cave in the state, after the [[Earth:Friars Hole Cave System|Friars Hole Cave System]] in the same county and the [[Earth:Hellhole (cave)|Hellhole System]] in Pendleton County.<ref name="CaverBob">{{cite web|url=http://www.caverbob.com/usalong.htm|title=USA Longest Caves|last=Gulden|first=Bob|date=2012-03-17|publisher=CaverBob.com|accessdate=2012-03-17|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129080014/http://caverbob.com/wlong.htm|url-status=live|archivedate=2009-01-29}}</ref>) Organ Cave has also been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2005.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>

==History==
Significant fossil discoveries bear witness to the early natural history of Organ Cave: giant ground sloth, [[Biology:Grizzly bear|grizzly bear]], [[Biology:Nine-banded armadillo|nine-banded armadillo]], sabre-tooth cat, [[Biology:Reindeer|reindeer]] and an Ice Age [[Biology:Porcupine|porcupine]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.organcave.com/History.html |title=Organ Cave-History |website=www.organcave.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127210811/http://organcave.com/History.html |archive-date=2010-11-27}} </ref> Organ Cave's human history is attested by [[Earth:Flint|flint]] arrowheads used by early Native Americans. Evidence of early white settlers in the cave is suggested by the date "1704" scratched on a wall, but this may be a later addition since the first white settlers to Greenbrier County came only in the 1740s.

The cave was used since before 1835 as a source for nitre (saltpeter) for the manufacture of [[Chemistry:Gunpowder|gunpowder]]. During the American Civil War, [[Place:Confederate States of America|Confederate]] soldiers under the command of General Robert E. Lee again mined the cave for nitre. The cave today has the nation's largest collection of Civil War-era saltpeter hoppers. Studies have shown the cave dirt is high in calcium nitrate, which was turned into potassium nitrate using these hoppers.<ref>[http://www.armchairgeneral.com/confederate-boys-and-peter-monkeys.htm "Confederate Boys and Peter Monkeys"] by Lee Hadden. Armchair General. January 2005.</ref>

Organ Cave was first surveyed by members of the National Speleological Society in July 1948. For many years it was considered the longest cave in the world. {{as of|2022|3|11}}, the Organ Cave System had {{convert|38.452|mi|km}} of surveyed cave passage making it the 55th longest cave in the world, the 16th longest in the United States, and the 3rd longest in West Virginia.<ref name="CaverBob" />

==Jefferson's ground sloth==
[[File:Megalonyx jeffersonii.jpg|thumb|upright|Certificate stating that ''M. jeffersonii'' is the "Official West Virginia State Fossil" and was "thought to have been found" in Organ Cave. (It contains the additional error of referring to the "three-toed sloth" rather than Jefferson's giant ground sloth.)]]
Formerly, a famous fossil discovery—that of Thomas Jefferson's giant ground sloth (''Megalonyx jeffersonii'')—had been assumed to have come originally from Organ Cave. Jefferson never visited the area, but received the fossil from a local friend in 1796. In the early 20th century, a local man, Andrew Price of Marlinton, decided that the fossil had come from Organ Cave and popularized his theory.<ref>Humphreys, Blanche (1928), [http://www.wvculture.org/history/agrext/organcav.html ''History of Organ Cave Community (Greenbrier County, West Virginia)'']; Agricultural Extension Division.</ref> In 1995, however, Smithsonian paleontologist Frederick Grady proposed<ref>
Grady, Fred (1995), [http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/PDF/V59/V59N1-Abstracts_1995.pdf "The Search for the Cave from which Thomas Jefferson Described the Bones of the Megalonyx"] [Abstract], In: "Selected Abstracts from the 1995 National Speleological Society National Convention in Blacksburg, Virginia"; In: ''Journal of Cave and Karst Studies'', April 1997, p. 57.</ref> that Haynes Cave in nearby Monroe County was the true source. (His reasons had to do with historical land-ownership records.)

In 2008, the governor of West Virginia held a ceremony at Organ Cave to present the owner with a certificate stating that ''M. jeffersoni'' was the "Official West Virginia State Fossil" and repeated the assertion that it was indeed found in Organ Cave, but without producing any new evidence.

==See also==
*List of National Natural Landmarks
*List of National Natural Landmarks in West Virginia
*List of longest caves in the United States

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|1}}

===Other sources===
* Hadden, R. Lee. 2005. [http://www.armchairgeneral.com/confederate-boys-and-peter-monkeys.htm "Confederate Boys and Peter Monkeys."] Armchair General. January 2005. Adapted from a talk given to the Geological Society of America on March 25, 2004. 
*Humphreys, Blanche (1928), ''History of Organ Cave Community (Greenbrier County, West Virginia)''; Agricultural Extension Division.
*Stevens, Paul J., editor (1988), ''Caves of the Organ Cave Plateau, Greenbrier County, West Virginia'', Bulletin 9: West Virginia Speleological Survey; 200 pages (Over 70 devoted to Organ Cave); 80 pages of map (100&nbsp;ft:1&nbsp;inch) of the system; descriptions of 50 other caves on the Plateau.

==External links==
* [http://www.organcave.com/ Organ Cave website]



[[Category:Limestone caves]]

{{Sourceattribution|Organ Cave}}