1884In 1884, the Southern Railway was built through Shenandoah County, Virginia. A local farmer, named Abraham Neff, had an apple orchard located by the railroad. He granted permission to the railway to quarry limestone from his property. One day, Mr. Neff’s sons were playing in the quarry and came upon a hole with cool air and a mist rising from it. They got some ropes and candles and climbed down a 275-foot winding shaft where they found a huge dark room filled with stalactites, stalagmites, and flowstone.

1920-1922As the railroad was being completed, a local man, named Hunter Chapman, bought the Neff’s property, and with it, the caverns. He began constructing stairs into the caverns and building a gravel pathway through the caverns. He also constructed a three-story building that housed the main lobby on the first floor and full-service hotel on the second and third floors. The Shenandoah Caverns opened its doors to the public in May of 1922.

1931Mr. Chapman installed an elevator in the building that ran from the third floor all the way down into the caverns for easier access. To date, it is the only cavern in Virginia with an elevator.

1954 In 1954, H.B. Long became the second owner of the Shenandoah Caverns.

1957 In February of 1957, a fire decimated the upper floors of the Caverns hotel. The hotel was not rebuilt but renovations to keep the property as a tourist attraction were completed in the summer of that year.

1966In 1966, Earl Hargrove became the third owner of the Shenandoah Caverns. With the help of Dan Proctor, whose family had been managing the caverns since the 1950’s, the caverns continued to grow and prosper.

1966In 1966, Mr. Hargrove renovated the second floor of the caverns building, turning it into Mainstreet of Yesteryear. It is a collection of window scenes dating back to the 1930s, when department stores would decorate their windows at Christmastime.

2000A museum, American Celebration on Parade, was built to showcase parade floats that Mr. Hargrove’s company had created over the years. His company created inaugural parade floats dating back to Truman’s Inaugural parade in 1949.

2007A final building was added to the cavern’s property called “The Yellow Barn”. It is the main venue for events and weddings.

2015Mr. Hargrove passed away in 2015 but his legacy lives on through his daughter, Kathy Hargrove Kelly, the fourth owner of the Shenandoah Caverns.

2022The Shenandoah Caverns celebrated 100 years of being open to the public in May of 2022.