They found a mile of passages 245 feet below the surface. So in 1942, explorers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University descended through the long vertical drop. Photo by Teresa Bergenįarmers discovered the cave when they wondered why it took so long for the dead animals they threw in a hole in the ground to hit the bottom. Inside Lost World Caverns in Lewisburg, West Virginia. A train would whisk members of Congress 250 miles from Washington DC to The Greenbrier in West Virginia, where they’d run the country from underground. Beneath the resort, behind an 18-ton blast door, sits a hidden bunker built to withstand a nuclear attack.

The most sensational part of The Greenbrier’s history is the secret it kept from 1962 to 1992. German and Italian POWs also lived on the resort grounds.Īfter World War II, the railway reacquired the Greenbrier and hired Draper to update the property from hospital to resort. Then the US Army bought the Greenbrier and turned it into the 2,000-bed Ashford General Hospital to treat and rehabilitate soldiers.

The railway bought the hotel in 1910.įor seven months after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Greenbrier served as a posh prison for hundreds of Japanese, German, and Italian diplomats and their families waiting to be exchanged for US diplomats overseas. When the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway completed construction in 1873, the hotel’s fortunes soared. Both Union and Confederate soldiers occupied the grounds during the Civil War. By the 1830s, movers and shakers from the Southern states hung out here. Photo by Teresa Bergen Greenbrier HistoryĪmericans first came to White Sulphur Springs to partake of healing waters around 1778. Caldwell also crafted a life-size nativity scene that still makes Christmastime appearances at the Old Stone Presbyterian Church.ĭecorating Dorothy Draper style at the Greenbrier. People rushed to see every new window display. She said it was a status symbol to be portrayed in Caldwell’s scenes. Deb pointed out that the chandelier included painted toothpaste caps repurposed as candleholders. One diorama showed an overloaded dining table crashing down on people in fancy dress. The dioramas, built for her husband’s store, used paint, papier mache, and found objects to depict historical scenes featuring recognizable Lewisburg citizens. I found the preserved store window displays made by local artist Doris Caldwell in the 1950s most intriguing. Photos and artifacts also depict the lives of enslaved and freed Black people in this part of West Virginia. Inside the historical society museum, you’ll find info about the North family and other former occupants of the house. Photo by Teresa Bergen Interesting Things in the North House Museum This old mail carriage served the Greenbrier Valley.

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner