In 1994 I was invited on a very special trip to Lookout Mountain Cave below Ruby Falls. We were having dinner at a friend’s house and at our table we met a couple from Lafayette, Georgia. We started talking about caving and Pettyjohn Cave near Lafayette, when he told me he was going to make a special trip to Ruby Falls. He knew a cave guide who was taking a group of Lafayette city officials to the lower cave at Ruby Falls the following Tuesday, April 19. He invited me to come if he wanted. I had to get off work and drive early, but I knew it would be worth it. A once in a lifetime experience and my only chance to see Lookout Mountain Cave!

When I arrived I was the only one dressed in caving gear, the others only had flashlights, but they were impressed when we entered the lobby and elevator.

After a long, slow ride to the bottom, we exit the elevator into a passageway of Lookout Mountain Cave. The electric lights were on. A string of lights with half of them burned out and far apart. I remember looking carefully at the rusty frame of the elevator and was surprised that it still worked in the humid conditions of the cave.

Although Lookout Mountain Caverns has not been open to tourists for quite some time, the Ruby Falls administration allowed researchers to take the elevator (the shaft dug in 1928-1929) to Lookout Mountain Caverns by prior arrangement. This access resulted in the discovery of new passages since Barr’s description was published in 1961. It also resulted in the discovery of prehistoric bones dating to the last Ice Age (Pleistocene). Many ancient names and dates in this cave are of great interest to historians. The cave map in Barr’s book indicates the existence of the “Andy Jackson Signature”. Unfortunately, in 2005, the Tennessee state elevator inspectors required Ruby Falls operators to seal off the portion of the elevator shaft below Ruby Falls and the cave is now totally inaccessible as of 2006.

One of the first things the guide showed us was Andrew Jackson’s signature. The protective glass was gone, but the bolts that held it in place were still there, and the signature could be made out.

The lower part of the cave was flooded and the stairs led down to the water. As we looked at the passage below, the guide explained that the water-filled passage connected with the dry passage in the direction we were heading. I asked if we could take it and join the group at the crossroads. Two of us, my friend who I met at dinner and followed the creek with waist-deep water. After what seemed like a long walk through the water, we heard voices and joined the rest of the group, soaking wet.

We continued through the cave to the original entrance which is now blocked by the railway tunnel, we heard a train go by while we were there. We got a good look at the ballet rock boxes that were on the side of the aisle and were told they were used for early voting. Although it’s hard to believe, they had a square hole at the top.

In 1905, the entrance to Lookout Mountain Cave was permanently sealed by the railroad tunnel, and in 1928 Leo Lambert dug an elevator shaft 420 feet deep into the known cave. At the 260 foot level an opening eighteen inches high and five feet wide was discovered. This led to the show cave now, Ruby Falls, named after Ruby, Mr. Lambert’s wife. In 1929 the towers to the lower original cave were opened. A year later, Ruby Falls was open to the public. And in 1935 visits to the original cave were discontinued, in 2006 the rusty elevator was replaced and the lower cave shaft was sealed.