Dunbar Cave State Park

Dunbar Cave State Park
Dunbar Cave State Park scene
Type	Tennessee State Park
Location	Clarksville, TN
Coordinates	36°33′01″N 87°18′21″W / 36.5503°N 87.3059°W / 36.5503; -87.3059Coordinates: 36°33′01″N 87°18′21″W / 36.5503°N 87.3059°W / 36.5503; -87.3059
Area	110 acres (0.45 km²)
Operated by	Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
Open	Park is open Year around; Cave is Open May through August

Dunbar Cave State Park is a 110 acre (450,000 m²)^[1] park in Clarksville, Tennessee, situated around Dunbar Cave. Dunbar Cave is the 280th largest cave complex in the world, stretching 8.067 miles (13 km) inward. In front of the cave entrance is a large concrete poured structure with three distinct arches. The cave is located in an area of karst topography, including sinkholes, springs, and limestone bedrock. The manmade Swan Lake also sits in front of the cave.^[1] In March 2010 the cave was closed to tours and visitors because a bat infected with White nose syndrome was found in the cave.^[2] However as of August 2015 cave tours are back open again.

History

The entrance to Dunbar Cave was inhabited by local prehistoric peoples for thousands of years before settlers arrived. In the late 1970s a team of archaeologists found artifacts dating back to the Paleo Indian time, which was from 10,000 B.C.-8,000 B.C. The bulk of artifacts found were dated to the Archaic time, which was from 8,000 B.C.-1,000 B.C. The area, while still inhabited during the Woodland time, which was from 1,000 B.C.-800 A.D., was not as populated due to the fact that the Native American’s at this time had started to rely heavily on growing crops, and the land around the Red River and Cumberland River were more conducive to growing crops than the rocky terrain around the cave. During the Mississippian era, which was from 800 A.D.-1550 A.D., the cave was used by Native Americans for ceremonial purposes. There have been pictographs found in the cave depicting religious symbols indicating that the cave was believed to be an important spiritual location. By 1784 it had been claimed by Thomas Dunbar, who paid for the land but never got the deed. Sometime around 1790, a land surveyor named Robert Nelsen realized this and claimed the land for his own. A legal battle ensued, and in 1792 the US Government awarded the land to Robert Nelsen, and the Dunbar family was removed from the land, although the cave retained Dunbar's name.^[3] During the Mexican-American War, the cave was used to mine saltpeter for gunpowder. In 1858, developers saw the potential in the area, along with nearby Idaho Springs, and the first cabins were built there. After the Civil War, the springs and the cave were acquired by J. A. Tate, who constructed a two-story hotel on the site.^[4]

By 1931, the area had hosted numerous social events, including dances, concerts, and fairs, and was in need of repair and renovation. At the time, the state had just completed a new road in front of the hotel and an opportunity arose. A couple of local businessmen cleaned up the site, adding additional recreational facilities, including a concrete swimming pool, bathhouse, and tennis courts, and restoring and expanding the size of the hotel. The existing lake was also dammed up, increasing its size to 20 acres (81,000 m²).^[4]

Dunbar Cave was purchased by Roy Acuff on April 26, 1948 for $150,000. (Nashville Banner, April 27, 1948) The cave was the site of musical festivities and entertainment shows, which would host big bands like Benny Goodman's and Tommy Dorsey's. Acuff also added a golf course adjacent to the lake. Over time the popularity of the cave and surrounding area declined, and the hotel burned in 1950 and was not rebuilt.^[4]

Dunbar Cave was purchased by McKay King in 1963. King operated the Dunbar Cave property until his death in 1971. The swimming pool was closed in 1967. The cave was inherited by his widow. (Matthews (2005), page 38.)

In 1973, the State of Tennessee, under then Governor Winfield Dunn, purchased Dunbar Cave from Mrs. McKay King, to become a State Natural Area.

In 2002, the park shut down briefly during the state's budget cutting crisis.

Petroglyphs

On January 15, 2005 park specialist Amy Wallace, geologist and author Larry E. Matthews, local historian Billy Frank Morrison, and history professor Joe Douglas discovered Native American petroglyphs in Dunbar Cave.

The more than 30 drawings and etchings found in the cave were dated to the Mississippian era (700 to 1300 CE) using torches and other artifacts found nearby. Some of the pictographs are religious symbols, with one depicting a Mississippian supernatural warrior.^[3] Their existence was announced to the public by the State of Tennessee on July 29, 2006, during the Second Annual Dunbar Cave Day, held at the Park.

2010 White Nose Syndrome shutdown

Although Dunbar Cave only has a small bat population, it is still closed from September through April to allow the bats undisrupted hibernation. In March 2010, a bat with White nose syndrome was discovered by researchers from Austin Peay State University doing assessments of species diversity and roosting patterns.^[2] Based on finding the infected bat, the State of Tennessee announced on March 24, 2010 that Dunbar Cave was closed to all visitors and tours were discontinued. Since 2006 when the disease was first discovered in New York, it has spread to Ontario, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Tennessee, causing the death of over a million bats. The US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has called for a moratorium on caving activities in the affected areas,^[5] and strongly recommends that any clothing or equipment used in such areas be decontaminated after each use.

References

1 2 "TN State Parks-Dunbar Cave State Park". Retrieved 2010-03-16.
1 2 Calabrese-Benton, Tisha. "Dunbar Cave State Park Suspends Cave Tours". Retrieved 2010-06-27.
1 2 Schroeder, Owen. "Dunbar Cave". Retrieved 2010-06-28.
1 2 3 Matthews, Larry E. (2005). Dunbar Cave: The Showplace of the South. National Speleological Society. ISBN 978-1-879961-22-7.
↑ "USFWS-WNS-Cave-Advisory" (PDF). U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. March 26, 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-13.

External links

Protected areas of Tennessee

Federal

National Parks	Great Smoky Mountains National Park

National Historical Parks & Sites	Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Manhattan Project National Historical Park

National Military Parks	Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Fort Donelson National Battlefield Fort Donelson National Cemetery Shiloh National Cemetery Shiloh National Military Park Stones River National Battlefield Stones River National Cemetery

National Recreation Areas	Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area

National Trails System	Appalachian National Scenic Trail Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

National Forests	Cherokee National Forest

National Wildlife Refuges	Chickasaw Cross Creeks Hatchie Lake Isom Lower Hatchie Reelfoot Tennessee

Wilderness Areas	Bald River Gorge Big Frog Big Laurel Branch Citico Creek Cohutta Gee Creek Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Little Frog Mountain Pond Mountain Sampson Mountain Unaka Mountain

Other Protected Areas	Foothills Parkway Gatlinburg Bypass Natchez Trace Parkway Obed Wild and Scenic River

State

East Tennessee State Parks	Big Ridge Booker T. Washington Cove Lake Cumberland Mountain Davy Crockett Birthplace Fall Creek Falls Fort Loudoun Frozen Head Harrison Bay Hiwassee/Ocoee Indian Mountain Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail Norris Dam Panther Creek Red Clay Roan Mountain Rocky Fork Seven Islands Sycamore Shoals Warriors' Path

Middle Tennessee State Parks	Bicentennial Capitol Mall Bledsoe Creek Burgess Falls Cedars Of Lebanon Cordell Hull Birthplace Cummins Falls David Crockett Dunbar Cave Edgar Evins Fall Creek Falls Harpeth River Henry Horton Johnsonville Long Hunter Montgomery Bell Mousetail Landing Old Stone Fort Pickett Port Royal Radnor Lake Rock Island Sgt. Alvin C. York South Cumberland Standing Stone Tims Ford

West Tennessee State Parks	Big Cypress Tree Big Hill Pond Chickasaw Fort Pillow Meeman-Shelby Forest Nathan Bedford Forrest Natchez Trace Paris Landing Pickwick Landing Pinson Mounds Reelfoot Lake T.O. Fuller

State Forests	Bledsoe Cedars of Lebanon Chickasaw Chuck Swan Franklin Lewis Lone Mountain Martha Sundquist Natchez Trace Pickett Prentice Cooper Scott Standing Stone Stewart

State Natural Areas	Bays Mountain Big Bone Cave Colditz Cove Honey Creek House Mountain Piney Falls Laurel-Snow North Chickamauga Creek Gorge Ozone Falls Stillhouse Hollow Falls Stinging Fork Falls Virgin Falls

Other

Other	Catoosa Wildlife Management Area

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (web) - Tennessee Department of Agriculture (web)

Mississippian and related cultures

Middle Mississippian

American Bottom and Upper Mississippi	Aztalan Big Eddy Cahokia Monks Mound Mound 34 Mound 72 Woodhenge Cloverdale Dickson Mounds Emerald Mound and Village Emmons Cemetery Horseshoe Lake John Chapman Kuhn Station Larson Lunsford-Pulcher Mitchell Orendorf Sleeth Steed-Kisker culture Sugarloaf Mound

Lower Ohio River and Confluence area	Adams Dogtooth Bend Kincaid Mounds Marshall Millstone Bluff Orr-Herl Rowlandton Mound Towosahgy Turk Twin Mounds Ware Wickliffe Mounds

Middle Ohio River	Angel Mounds Angel Phase Annis Mound Bone Bank Caborn-Welborn culture Ellerbusch Hovey Lake-Klein Hovey Lake District Murphy Prather Slack Farm Tolu Welborn Village Yankeetown

Tennessee and Cumberland	Backusburg Beasley Mounds Brentwood Library Brick Church Castalian Springs Dunbar Cave Fewkes Group Mound Bottom Riverview Mounds Archaeological Site Sellars Indian Mound Obion Mounds Old Town Swallow Bluff Island Mounds

Central and Lower Mississippi	Belle Meade Phase Boyd Mounds Campbell Chucalissa Eaker Menard-Hodges Murphy Mound Parkin Nodena Phase Nodena Site Tipton Phase Tunica Walls Phase

South Appalachian
Mississippian

Fort Walton culture

Pensacola culture

Plaquemine Mississippian

Caddoan Mississippian

Upper Mississippian
cultures

Oneota	Beattie Park Mound Group Blood Run Hartley Fort State Preserve Roche-a-Cri Petroglyphs

Fort Ancient culture	Alligator Effigy Mound Clover Dodge Leo Petroglyph Serpent Mound SunWatch Indian Village

Culture

Artwork	Emmons mask Long-nosed god maskette Mississippian copper plates Rogan plates Spiro plates Wulfing cache Mississippian culture pottery Mississippian stone statuary Shell gorget

Languages	Caddoan languages Central Algonquian languages Cherokee language Mobilian Jargon Muskogean languages Natchez language Siouan languages Timucua language Tunica language Yuchi language

Religion	Ballgame Black drink Ceremonial pipe Chunkey Earth/fertility cult Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Platform mound Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stone box grave Thunderbird Underwater panther

Related topics: Chevron bead; Clarksdale bell; Maize; Mill Creek chert; de Soto Expedition

Pre-Columbian North America

Periods Lithic Archaic Formative Classic Post-Classic

Archaeological cultures	Adena Alachua Ancient Pueblo (Anasazi) Baytown Belle Glade Buttermilk Creek Complex Caborn-Welborn Calf Creek Caloosahatchee Clovis Coles Creek Deptford Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Walton Fremont Glacial Kame Glades Hohokam Hopewell List of Hopewell sites Leon-Jefferson Mississippian List of Mississippian sites Mogollon Monongahela Old Cordilleran Oneota Paleo-Arctic Paleo-Indians Patayan Plano Plaquemine Poverty Point Red Ocher Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Steed-Kisker Tchefuncte Tocobaga Troyville

Archaeological sites	Angel Mounds Bandelier National Monument The Bluff Point Stoneworks Cahokia Casa Grande Chaco Canyon Coso Rock Art District Crystal River Archaeological State Park Eaker Effigy Mounds National Monument Etowah Indian Mounds Eva Folsom Site Fort Ancient Fort Center Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument Holly Bluff Site Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Kincaid Mounds Kolomoki Mounds Marksville Meadowcroft Rockshelter Mesa Verde Moorehead Circle Moundville Mummy Cave Nodena Site Ocmulgee National Monument Old Stone Fort Parkin Park Pinson Mounds Portsmouth Earthworks Poverty Point Pueblo Bonito Recapture Canyon Rock Eagle Rock Hawk Russell Cave National Monument Salmon Ruins Serpent Mound Spiro Mounds SunWatch Taos Pueblo Toltec Mounds Town Creek Indian Mound Winterville Wupatki National Monument

Miscellaneous	Black drink Buhl Woman Ceremonial pipe Chunkey Clovis point Container Revolution Eastern Agricultural Complex Eden point Effigy mound Falcon dancer Folsom point Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Kennewick Man Kiva Medicine wheel Metallurgy Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Mound Builders N.A.G.P.R.A. Norse colonization of the Americas Piasa Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stickball Three Sisters agriculture Thunderbird Underwater panther

Related Genetic history Portal of Indigenous peoples of North America Pre-Columbian era

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