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 CUMBERLAND CAVERNS is one of the most extensive caves known in Tennessee. Portions of this system were originally
known as Higgenbotham Cave and Henshaw Cave, but integration of these two
caves plus considerable exploration of previously unvisited sections has in
the past several years considerably enlarged the cave. More than 32 miles are now known.
 Aaron Higgenbotham, a surveyor, discovered
Higgenbotham Cave in 1810. Venturing
into the cave alone, he was trapped for three days on a high ledge when his
torch went out. According to local
legend, when a rescue party reached him, his hair had turned white. Aaron Higgenbotham did not penetrate very
far underground. Shortly after the close
of the Civil War someone explored for over a mile in Higgenbotham Cave and
discovered a huge avenue, 60 ft. wide, 10 ft. high, and 2000 ft. long--the
“Ten Acre Room.” The name “Shelah
Waters” and the date “1869" are inscribed on the walls in candle smoke
or scratched into the rock in many rather remote areas. This is the oldest name and date in the
cave. Higgenbotham Cave is mentioned
in old histories of Warren County as a local attraction, and Thomas L. Bailey
in “Resources of Tennessee” first described it in print for 1918.
 Nitrates in the cave earth were mined in the
Henshaw Cave, both during the war of 1812 and during the War Between the
States. Leaching vats are preserved in
the cave, and a small pick and hoe have been found by digging nearby in the
floor. Calcium nitrate occurs in the
cave soil; its mode of deposition is imperfectly understood. Cave soil was leached in wooden hoppers
with wood ashes. Ion exchange between
the niter and potash took place, and crude saltpeter for the manufacture of
gunpowder could be crystallized from the liquor, which was boiled in huge
kettles six feet in diameter. The term
“keel dirt” was applied to the niter-containing earth, and the leached mud
was called “lixivated earth.” Wooden
paddles for stirring the material in the vats are occasionally found in
saltpeter caves.
 Members of the National Speleological
Society began exploration of Higgenbotham Cave in 1945. A new entrance was discovered in 1950, only
240 yards from the historic entrance. It is reached only by crawling through a tight hole chipped in a
curtain of flowstone; it was called the "Onyx Curtain Entrance." In 1953 it was discovered that Henshaw Cave
was separated from a chamber adjacent to the Ten Acre Room by an extensive
breakdown. An artificially enlarged
opening now connects the two caves, making it very easy to reach the more
important centers of exploration near the Ten Acre Room. Shortly after the discovery of the "Henshaw
Cave Entrance" a whole new series of galleries was penetrated and became to
be called the Great Extension. Gypsum
deposits of profusion and beauty were encountered in this area, which
contains seven miles of passages. Development of portions of the system,
including the Henshaw Cave and the Ten Acre Room, was undertaken in 1955, and
the name changed at that time to "Cumberland Caverns." Since that time many thousands of visitors
have been able to view the remarkable features of the Cavern.
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