Cave House Page 2

The Cave House

One of upstate NY's Most Historic Treasures

The

developers who are re-creating the abandoned Howes Cave Quarry and property as a national showcase for what municipal planners term "mixed re-use" are saving one of Schoharie County's most historic treasures.

When

completed, the quarry project will combine the heavy, natural resources industry with elements of tourism, education, and agribusiness, according to developer Emil Galasso, president of Cobleskill Stone Products.

The

former "Cave House"an impressive gothic structure of cut limestone will serve as the site's visitors center, offering tours of old Howes Cave and exhibits on mining and geology.

than a 150 years ago, the Cave House welcomed visitors to Howes Cave, as it existed after its discovery in 1842 by Lester Howe. (Nationally famous Howe Caverns is the back half of Lester's original mile-long cave, and was opened in 1929 after developers sank a shaft for an elevator entrance to bypass the growing cement quarry.)

THE FIRST CAVE HOUSE

Almost

overnight, Howes Cave became a popular destination for the curiosity-seekers of the mid-1800s, and by 1845 the Howe family's small wood-frame "Cave House"the first had an addition built on it to accommodate the growing number of guests.

From

The National Magazine, 1855:

"The

traveler is very glad to see a rude gate having `Howes Cave' painted in great letters upon one of its bars, and still more glad, when, having turned aside from the main road and crossed a little strip of more smiling landscape, he alights at the door of the hotel, and receives the friendly hospitalities of the great cave explorer."

Visitors

would write their impressions of their caverns' tour in the hotel's guest log, The Cave Register. The register has been preserved by the Schoharie county Historical Society.

The Cave House Pavilion Hotel, at its heyday, about 1880.

Students

from Union college, Schenectady, described their tour of May 28, 1849:

"...

entered the cave with Mr. Howe precisely at midnight. . . two of the party . . . ascended to the top of the ladder in the Rotunda, and each fired off a Roman candle . . . the party reached the mouth of the cave at 7 o'clock next morning."

The

first Cave House burned to the ground in 1847. When building its replacement, Howe built the northern wing of the spacious hotel directly above the caverns' entrance. Visitors entered the cave through a stairway in the basement of the building, and cool air from the cave circulated up through the lodge. This innovation provided guests of the Cave House, mostly "City folk"

the first form of air conditioning a rare respite from the summer heat.

Sitting

on the northern slope of the valley, the Cave House commanded magnificent views of the countryside.

Fire destroyed the pavilion hotel in 1909.

Guests could share pleasant conversation or relax in the early summer evening in the rocking chairs on the hotel porch. The dining rooms were spacious and cheerful, and served delicious meals, prepared from the freshest beef, poultry, and dairy products from the neighboring farms. At nights, guests were probably entertained by Howe or one of his daughters at the family piano. Lester was remembered by one elderly gentleman as an accomplished pianist.

But

Lester didn't have much luck as an innkeeper. In January, 1872, the second Cave House burned.

Before

transferring property to the Howes Cave Association that year, Howe had started construction of a third Cave House Hotel (This is what remains in the quarry today). To this imposing gothic structure of cut limestone, the association built an extensive addition of wood which more than doubled

A boarding house, then cement company offices until 1976.

its size. It was renamed the Howes Cave Pavilion Hotel. Spacious rooms were added for fancy dress balls, billiards, and even indoor bowling; the lawns were manicured for tennis and croquet; and a livery stable provided "good vehicles and horses at reasonable rates".
The association felt the resort business would be more profitable than the cave business. Howe had charged fifty cents for a tour through his cave; rates for room and board at the Pavilion Hotel were $2.50 per day, and $10 to $15 per week.

From

fall-winter issue, 1971 Schoharie County Historical Review:

The

Pavilion Hotel, which has been erected with an eye single to the health and comfort of its patrons, fully realizing that in doing this its popularity and success is assured. It is constructed both of stone and wood, is three stories in height, and so arranged, both interior and exterior, that the most exacting person cannot take exception.

The

sleeping-rooms are all large and elegantly furnished. Many are arranged en suite, with private parlor, bath, etc.

The

house is lit throughout with gas, heated by steam when necessary, every room connected with the office by electric bell, hot and cold baths on every floor. . .

"Sanitary

Arrangements ----- This most important feature, as it should, has had special attention, both in and outside the hotel . . ."

Work began in the historic Cave House in February, 2003.

The

mining industry in Howes Cave continued to grow through the late 1800s, and fire struck yet again in February, 1909, and destroyed the famous Pavilion Hotel, leaving only the limestone building Howe had constructed 30 years earlier.

Tours

through the Howes Cave were discouraged after that, and the Cave House became a boarding house. From about 1927 - 1929, it was home to dozens of workers employed by the new Howe Caverns, Inc., to ready the cave for its re-opening.

QUARRY ACTIVITY PEAKS

Production

continued at the cement quarry, through a succession of owners, and production peaked at two million barrels per year in the 1950s. The Cave House became headquarters for several firms, notably Penn-Dixie.
Over the years, the cement produced of Howes Cave limestone has received numerous awards for its quality. But in 1976, the quarry was no longer profitable, and the Penn-Dixie Cement Company closed it, throwing about 140 employees out of work. A new owner, Flintkote continued to run the kiln and processing plant, but ceased mining operations.

1996, Flintkote closed the doors of the plant, and the 130-year-old cement industry in the hamlet of Howes Cave was ended.