Searching for Bits of History

Bob Handley, WVCC Director

Rapps Cave - Greenbrier # 84
Alias: Rapps School Cave, or Wolfenbarger Cave

The entrance to Rapps Cave is located on the upper side of a small sinkhole in a secluded valley east of the insurgence of Buckeye Creek at Buckeye Creek Cave. Being a major high entrance to the Buckeye Creek Cave System, it blows quantities of warm air in freezing weather. The Cave is formed in the Union Member of the Greenbrier Limestone. There is approximately one mile of known passage surveyed to date.

The large entrance room has a well-decorated area, but vandals and looters have taken a heave toll. However, there still remains evidence of prehistoric visits by humans. The West Virginia Cave Conservancy (WVCC) acquired a lease on the cave in 1999 with the intention of preserving what was left and initiating an archeological study of the cave and the surface surrounding the entrance.

After a very complicated permitting process, Drs. Kim and Stephen McBride of the University of Kentucky (originally Lewisburg area residents) started their investigations in May of 2001. Human teeth and bone fragments, pot shards, projectile points, and other evidence of Indian habitation were found. The majority of material indicated utilization was between 600 and 800 years ago during the Woodland Indian Period. However some of the material is believed to be of the Historic or Pre-Historic Indians Periods which are much older. There are also petroglyphs present, which are believed to be of a religious nature. Study is continuing.