Deep Under The City; Mysterious Caves Far Below Nashville’s Upper Stratum of Solidity

From the Aug. 2, 1897, Nashville American

Saturday afternoon quite a crowd of curious bystanders were gathered about the building on College street opposite the transfer station [Third Avenue North at Deaderick Street; see map]. The magnet that had attracted them was a great stream of water issuing from the earth in front of the building, and it was impossible to check its force or find its cause. The street in front and the yard in the rear of the building were completely flooded, and many theories and suppositions were advanced as to the nature of the stream.

Some asserted that the water came from an underground cave, which time and again has been discovered beneath the soil of the city. Some denied the truth of this statement altogether, and insisted that the river had most probably changed its course and was undermining the town. One man who was prominent in the crowd by reason of his commanding presence and address, declared that the water came from an underground spring which he knew to be located in the neighborhood. He also stated that a negro man had once been digging a well for Martin Cain and had gotten to a certain depth in his work when he was seen to disappear. For two days the man had not been heard of, when he was seen to emerge from a hole in the river bank near the bridge. The negro said, as the stranger of commanding appearance stated, that after disappearing he had fallen about twenty feet into a dark cave. After groping about for some hours he had seen a streak of gray and, following it, had come out of the cave at the place mentioned. The negro further said that there were a great many springs and running streams in the cave, and the stranger was vehement in averring that one of the springs had bubbled up from the aforesaid cave.

These idle hypotheses, however, were nipped in the bud when the workmen finally succeeded in tapping the water main and the stream ceased.

But the reporter had gotten a clue, and proceeded to investigate further. The following represents his findings:

Few people in Nashville know, in their everyday wanderings about the city, that they are separated from perhaps unfathomable depths by only a narrow crust of earth, but it is a fact long since established beyond question that under the solid foundation which forms the upper geological stratum of Nashville lime and stone is one of the largest and most extensive caves in the South.

Many have been the weird stories related of this natural grave, and many have been the theories advanced as to the causes and conditions that blended to bring about the effect as it now is. Some have supposed that it is the original bed of the Cumberland River, or of some of its tributaries, and this hypothesis has been strengthened by finding in some parts of the cave half-imbedded remains of aquatics, the bones of fishes and other evidences of extinct animal existence. Even now there are numbers of springs issuing from the walls and crevices, that give evidence of a once greater body of water.

But the tinge of romance about these caves has long since become a nonentity, together with the person who unearthed the strange stories that one hears on the street, and it is most likely that their memory will soon die even from the minds of the old-time negroes and street-corner loafers, who have a penchant for manufacturing such stories, and whose only means of support is to pass these heresies from lip to lip, till they take on the hue of reality and so come to the ears of reputable citizens. Howsoever this may be, there is no evidence by which one can substantiate or refute the interesting rumors and legends, and a part of them must be handed down as history.

But leaving this class of the genius homo to their own musings, while the legendary heritage is mythical and unsatisfactory, there are two or three of the old school of respectability who consider the existence of the cave anything but heresy, and who are willing to vouch for their statements.

One of these old-timers is Capt. Horace Hamner, who is able to assert that the rumors about the cave are not fiction, and that there is ground for at least some of them. Capt. Hamner is a Southern gentleman of the old type, whose years are just beginning to grow short and shadowy, and whose honorable, upright and unblemished life has endeared him to the hearts of his friends. Sitting in front of his stable door on Front street, chatting with a crowd of admirers, who come to hear the old gentleman talk, Mr. Hamner is a most tempting victim for the ubiquitous reporter.

According to Mr. Hamner, one part of the cave commenced on Front street, near Church, as the old factory owned by John Beaty in 1835.

The same branch continued its diagonal course to the corner of Market and the Square, under the northern end of the court house, thence across the market, and following that direction up Line, through North Nashville. In those days these were sewers, and the cave in same place, was called into requisition for that purpose. In most parts, however, it was clean and dry, and when an entrance could be effected, the allurements to school boys was irresistible.

There was an old legend prevalent among school boys of that day, that in the early days of Tennessee, when Jackson was driving the Indians from his native State, and treasures of immense value had been buried at some spot about Nashville by a well-to-do, but miserly planter, and that he had been murdered and scalped by Indian and the treasure had never been found. Of course, all boys imaged that the treasure was hidden some where in the cavernous recesses, and Col. John Terrass, Mr. Hamner and other adventurous youths, would explore the opening of the cave with lights and torches and much braggadocio; but the darkness was oppressive, and the stillness overawed the youngsters to such an extent that each expedition ended in precipitate retreat.

Ira Stout’s father owned a farm in the vicinity of what is now Line and Crawford streets, and on this farm was on of the largest apertures leading to the cave. An old negro man, known to his acquaintances as Eb. Johnson, lived on the farm before it came into possession of the Stouts, and he says that there used to be many stories related, not only of that cave, but of the many that were found for miles around.

He says that there was a story current during the war that runaway slaves were punished by their masters by being imprisoned in parts of the cave for long periods of a time, and the horror of the punishment kept a great many slaves at home who had been made restless by the breaking out of the war.

It is impossible to corroborate or to deny a story told by an old negro of the ghost of Black Bottom. Rumors of this kind are ever gaining credence and then forgotten. But it is singular that the horrible vision is even now held in mortal dread by some of the older inhabitants, and no negro can be found who is willing to venture into the darkness of the underground cavity.

The ghost of Black Bottom was an imaginary creature of the other world, supposed by the negroes to roam during the dead of night in and about the cavernous recesses, and the mere mention of the dreaded apparition was enough to spread consternation in the ranks of the dusky population.

While digging up the earth in the square some months ago preparatory to laying the foundation of the new City Hall [see map], some workmen came across an old well which had been covered over by an artificial formation of mortar, stone and earth, so as to completely cover the opening. When this formation was removed, the depth of the well was taken and found to be about 200 feet. It was nearly half full of water, and midway between the surface of the water and the opening was what appeared to be a shelf in the side of the well. On investigation, this was found to lead to a cave entrance, which was undoubtedly once used as a cellar or store-room of some kind. This may have been the burial place of the treasures above mentioned, but the water and fallen debris had so closed the aperture as to make investigation impossible.

But these are only a few of the many remarks that fall unwittingly from the knowing ones and all must be taken cum grano salis [with a grain of salt].

(Newspapers .com)

Editor’s note: At least one natural cave in downtown has been confirmed, coincidentally in the area mentioned in the 1897 article above. In August 1971, a cave containing the bones of humans and a saber-toothed tiger (Smilodon) was uncovered during excavation work for the construction of First American Center, today the UBS Tower at 315 Deaderick St. (beside it on Third Avenue is a historical marker for the Transfer Station). The Smilodon bones, including a fang, inspired the mascot and logo for city’s National Hockey League Team, the Predators.