History
Originally named "Grapevine Cave", the only entrance was a long vertical drop into which farmers used to dump dead livestock and other trash. Virginia Polytechnical Institute "discovered" the cave in 1942. It was surveyed in the 1960s and found to contain over a mile of interconnected passages that reach a depth of 245 feet below the surface. In 1967, the remains of a prehistoric cave bear (Arctodus pristinus) were unearthed in the cave.
In the early 1970s, a walking entrance was dug out, the trash was removed, walkways were installed and the cave was opened for tourism. In 1981, the gift shop and walking entrance were renovated. Since then subsequent owners have done extensive work on the lighting (making sure it doesn't allow the out-of-control growth of algae that old incandescent lamps cause) and many other cleaning and conservation projects as well as adding a dinosaur museum section to the gift shop.
In 1992, the Weekly World News reported that Lost World Caverns was the home of "Bat Boy", and claimed that he was captured by the FBI in the caverns, where he reportedly survived by eating his weight in live insects every day.
Read more about this topic: Lost World Caverns
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