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| This image of miner Donald G. Davis is from "Cave of the Winds, Then and Now," a study in contrasts of the cavern's 130-year history as a tourist destination. (Norman Thompson) |
The cave, open since 1881, attracts some 150,000 visitors a year to view its cavernous rooms, as well as stalactites that make up a horseshoe tunnel and calcite deposits shaped like a skeleton and a bat. The attractions have such names as the Temple of Silence, the Valley of Dreams and the Adventure Room.
| Photographers along with tourists were intrigued by the cave in the early years, and there are a multitude of historic snapshots and stereopticon views of the attractions, many of them spooky, the light casting ominous shadows on the cave walls. Norman Thompson replicates those old pictures of the cave and the countryside around it with a series of then-and-now shots. The Cave of the Winds hasn't changed much in 130 years, but the people have. Early visitors wore suits, ties and high collars with watch chains draped across their vests, a contrast to today's tourists in jeans and sweat shirts. |