Great Saltpetre Cave

The Great Saltpetre Cave is a notable limestone cave located in Rockcastle County in southeastern Kentucky. During the War of 1812, it served as an important source of saltpeter, a vital component of gunpowder Also known as black powder. The cave was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013, and is within the boundary of the Daniel Boone National Forest. Other names include Kincaid's Cave and The Great Cave on Crooked Creek. Robert Baker discovered the cave in the late eighteenth century. A stream ran through the cave, and was wide enough so that oxcarts could be used to bring the saltpeter above ground. However, torchlights had to be used to light the cave so that workers could mine the saltpeter from the ground. At the cave, calcium nitrate, also called niter, is leached from dry soil. When Doctor Samuel Brown, a Transylvania University professor of anatomy, chemistry, and surgery, gave in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1806 the first scientific description of Kentucky's saltpeter production, he drew mainly from the experiences of the Great Saltpetre Cave. As with most saltpeter caves, the land above the cave is a hardwood forest-covered plateau. Typically the saltpeter would be sent to Lexington, Kentucky to be made into gunpowder. During the War of 1812, sixty to seventy men were employed to mine the cave of its saltpeter, deemed necessary as British block

Cave data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).