Crystal Cave was discovered on November 12, 1871, while John Gehret and William Merkel were in the process of extracting limestone from a steep hill near Kutztown, Pennsylvania for use by neighboring farmers to improve the quality of their fields. After setting off a dynamite charge to free the limestone, they noticed that they had created a hole large enough to walk through. Almost immediately after word broke about their find, locals began entering the cave to explore it, frequently removing the calcite and aragonite crystals and rock specimens they found there as prized souvenirs. Frustrated by the damage being done to the cave, Greenwich Township farmer Samuel D. F. Kohler purchased the cave and surrounding land, he also created and began selling a guidebook to the cave which described the various pillar and dripstone formations, stalactites, and stalagmites. In 1874, he purchased his stagecoach, using it to transport potential customers from region-wide train stations to the cave; he then also built a hotel in the spring of that year to house tourists closer to the site of the cave. Known as the Kohler Hotel, it was also nicknamed as the "Cave House." On November 2, 1886, the aging Kohler sold the cave and its related operations to his son, David Kohler, for $4,300. After taking over, the younger Kohler and his wife purchased a liquor license for the hotel, and began holding hoedowns and other dances in the "Crystal Cave Ballroom." In 1923, David Kohler sold Crystal Cave and its related operations to J. Douglas Kaufman, who operated the concern until selling it to his son, Douglas Kaufman, in 1972. Douglas Kaufman's daughter then assumed leadership of the organization, becoming its president in 2007. During their tenure, the Kaufman family added an ice cream parlor and restaurant, miniature golf course, nature trail, second gift shop, and theater. The cave was also used, at one time, for crop storage.
Features of the cave
Crystal Cave measures long from its main entrance to its back of the cave. The lowest point, Devil's Den, is below the Earth's surface and in it live thirty to forty North Americanbrown bats. The highest point in the cave is below the Earth's surface, in an area that is called "Lookout Point" because it offers a view of two-thirds of the cave. Some of the cave's rock formations are a half-million years old. One is called "The Upside-down Ice Cream Cone" due to the different-colored calcite deposits which look like vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream, along with moss and plant life that looks like mint ice cream. There is also an enormous drop rock that separates a room in two creating a natural bridge. The cave remains at,, and in different areas all year round.
