|
|
Historical Highway MarkersMelrose CavernsA-128
This cave was likely known to Native Americans before the 18th century. John Harrison Sr. acquired the property in the 1740s. The entrance was improved in 1824 to allow access to visitors. During the Civil War, Union and Confederate soldiers left hundreds of inscriptions on the walls recording names and regiments; pistol and rifle balls scarred the formations in several corridors. In 1929, as automobile-based tourism became popular, the cave was opened as a commercial attraction called Blue Grottoes that included a lodge and service station. This business closed in 1967. Known as Melrose Caverns since the 1930s, the property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Department of Historic Resources, 2020 See a problem? Report it to HighwayMarkers@dhr.virginia.gov. |
DHR could use your help! We don't have a recent image of this marker. If you have one that you'd like to submit for inclusion on this site, please send it to HighwayMarkers@dhr.virginia.gov. |
|
References/Bibliographic Citation: Melrose Caverns and Harrison Farmstead, NRHP nomination (2014). J. Houston Harrison, Settlers by the Long Gray Trail (Dayton, VA: J. C. Carrier Company, 2006). William M. McGill, Caverns of Virginia (Richmond: Virginia Commission on Conservation and Development, 1933). Samuel Kercheval, History of the Valley of Virginia, 4th ed. (Strasburg, VA: Shenandoah Publishing House, 1925). Douglas Reichert Powell, Endless Caverns: An Underground Journey into the Show Caves of Appalachia (Chapel Hill: Univeristy of North Carolina Press, 2018). John Wayland, A History of Rockingham County (Dayton, VA: Ruebush-Elkins Co., 1912). Harrisonburg Daily News Record, 18 Aug. 1928, 19 June 1929, 5 Nov. 1966, 25 March 1967. Philadelphia Inquirer, 18 Aug. 1837. Hancock Jeffersonian, 30 May 1862. Western Reserve Chronicle, 4 June 1862. Richmond Times Dispatch, 17 June 1929. Washington Evening Star, 23 June 1929. National Tribune, 31 May 1894. Washington Post, 11, 15 March 1933. http://www.melrosecaverns.com/about https://michaeljdouma.com/2017/10/20/historic-inscriptions-in-the-shenandoah-valley-wiers-cave/ |