The Filson Historical Society Blog

While perusing the records of Louisville’s Cave Hill Cemetery for a recent reference inquiry, I was suddenly struck by the cemetery’s name – Cave Hill, and wondered, “Is there actually a cave at Cave Hill?”

Caves have always been a source of minor fascination for me – not an allure that led me into geology or serious study of them, but enough of an interest for me to want to do the touristy visit time after time.  As a child, I remember requesting that we see the caves near my aunt’s home in central West Virginia every year – and so we regularly visited Seneca Caverns in Riverton and Smoke Hole Caverns in Seneca Rocks, West Virginia.  By the time I was in late grade school, I was practically able to give the tour, and was annoyed when the teenaged tour guide working at the Caverns for a summer job missed a segment.  My favorite part was always near the end of the tour, when the guide would announce “TD” and switch off all of the lights – total darkness!! We visited other caves on other family vacations, but ironically, I have never been to the major cave in my home state, Mammoth Cave [I blame my parents for this oversight].

The cave on a 1940s plan of Cave Hill Cemetery

Given my penchant for caves, I am surprised that I was not intrigued by the Cave Hill name sooner, but I immediately made good use of the resources at The Filson.  A quick glance at a 1940s report which included a map indicated that yes, there is a cave on the Cave Hill property.

The Cave Hill Cemetery Records did not provide any more substantial information, and so I turned to published sources.  The pamphlet Eternal Vistas: Beautiful Cave Hill, Louisville is a sort of “advertising” brochure for Cave Hill Cemetery dating to the 1940s.  A section on the origins of the cemetery indicated that the land was previously called “Cave Hill Farm.”  A description of the cave from the brochure reads:  “The mouth of the cave opens out of a vine-covered limestone ledge bordering the east shore of the lake near the Administration Building. A tiny stream of clear sparkling water ripples over the rock floor and empties into the lake. The cave is not penetrable except for a very short distance.”

View of the Cave, from Benjamin Grove's 1857 map of Cave Hill Cemetery

I determined that an actual history of the cemetery might be more informative, and found such in Sam Thomas’s Cave Hill Cemetery: A Pictorial Guide and History of Louisville’s ‘City of the Dead’ (Louisville, Cave Hill Cemetery Co., 2001).  Sam’s beautiful history indicated that the name “Cave Hill” was given to the area by William Johnston, who owned and farmed the property and benefited from the strong spring emanating from the cave. The city of Louisville bought the Cave Hill farm in 1835, planning to use the stone quarries on the property and provide land for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.  With the transition of plans to the creation of a garden cemetery in the 1840s, the spring came in handy – it fed the section of Beargrass Creek running through the cemetery which was converted into a lake; the spring also lent to the picturesque beauty of the landscape.  Sam’s history provide some technical details on the cave – it could be entered on foot for about 30 feet and a crawl space extends for another 45 feet.  Was it possible that I could explore Cave Hill’s cave?!  But Sam’s description continued – “footing is treacherous, and the cave is off limits.”  Oh no! I needed to check this out for myself.

Wet weather, while not deterring the wildlife, did stop me from a closer look at the cave.

When the February and March rain drenching Louisville finally stopped (or rather, paused?) and I was able to crawl out of my own gloom-induced “cave,” I ventured onto the property on my own quest to find the cave.  Unfortunately, as my picture shows, the area outside of the mouth of the cave had flooded, and I was unable to get anywhere near it.  I can vouch for it being a particularly lovely spot in the midst of the beautiful and peaceful cemetery; I plan to go back during drier times to get a closer look at Cave Hill’s own cave.

Researcher Jennifer Armstrong

The Filson has many wonderful and intelligent researchers, but every so often one comes in that really grabs your attention.  Such was the case with Jennifer Armstrong.   Over the past year, Armstrong has repeatedly visited The Filson archives, researching on behalf of the Home of The Innocents, a community institution dedicated to caring for abused, abandoned, and neglected children.  Between 1882 and 1920, 220 infants and young children who died while at the home were buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in unmarked graves. When the current president of The Home of the Innocence as well as concerned citizens became aware of these long-forgotten graves, they immediately began raising money to erect a memorial marker.  It has been the work of volunteers, namely Jennifer Armstrong, to discover the names of “Louisville’s forgotten children” to be engraved on the granite memorials.

A loan analyst by day, Armstrong volunteered countless hours at the Filson piecing together historical clues to identify hundreds of children.  She searched in the Protestant Episcopal Orphan Asylum Records, scrutinized microfilm of vital records, and dug through Pearson Funeral Home records, all the while deciphering nineteenth century handwriting and keeping tedious notes on her findings.  In the end Armstrong identified all but one child, who she says will remain “known only to God.”

A public unveiling and dedication of the two memorial markers will be in Cave Hill Cemetery this Sunday, November 1 at 2:00 pm.

Thank you Jennifer, for not letting these children be forgotten in death, as they often were in life.