Cave Night Club
Scenic Lost River Cave has been used by Kentucky's inhabitants for thousands of years and in a variety of ways. Though shelter and water have always been high on the list of reasons for living and working around the valley, a very impressive entrepreneur came up with a new and exciting use for the property in the 1930s: A nightclub, complete with stage, bar and dance floor was built inside the mouth of Lost River Cave.
Bowling Green, Kentucky—like most areas of the United States—found itself in turmoil during the economic strife of the 1930s. What better way to relieve the pressure of The Great Depression than to cool off in Lost River’s breezy cave entrance? One of the largest cave entrances east of the Mississippi River, Lost River Cave was an ideal spot for the construction of a unique wining, dining and dancing experience. Locals and tourists alike flocked to the "Cavern Nite Club" to enjoy an evening of fun and freedom far beneath the hectic streets of the city. Church picnics, weddings and high school proms were held at the night club from 1934 through the early 1960s and some of the greatest swing band acts of the time belted out tunes from the bandstand.
The Cavern Nite Club served locals as well as the droves of tourists traveling the Dixie Highway from 1933 until the late 1950s. As an added bonus, guests were treated to guided walking tours inside the cave. These tours were especially popular because of a local legend that the famous outlaw Jesse James hid out in the cave depths to escape the law after robbing the Southern Deposit Bank in Russellville, Kentucky.
In the late 1950s, the night club era was at an end. The construction of I-65 re-routed traffic away from the Dixie Highway and from the Lost River Cave. The cool, natural breeze in the cave entrance was less enticing to a generation that had air conditioning in their homes and Elvis Presley's new Rockabilly style was sweeping the United States and replacing swing music in the hearts of Americans.
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—Josh Billings [Henry Wheeler Shaw] (1818–1885)