Ancient Ozarks Cave Hosted Speakeasies & Confederate Guerrillas

MILLER COUNTY, Mo. — A giant cave known by many names, including "Mammoth Cave" and "Fantasy World Caverns," has reopened near Lake of the Ozarks. But now the cave has taken its original name, in honor of its 19th-century owners: Stark Caverns. And the new owners have big plans.

Stark Caverns, the largest cave in Miller County, is rich in natural and human history, unusually beautiful geological formations, and interesting archeological artifacts. At one time, it was the number one attraction in Eldon. New owners Jeff and Amy Hargroves have grand plans to bring the geological wonder back to life.

Jeff and Amy Hargroves.jpg — photo provided

Jeff was a tour guide at the cave for four years, while in high school. “I always wanted to buy the cave,” Jeff said. “So, when the previous owner passed away, and the cave came up for sale, we saw the opportunity and bought it.” Jeff also owns a pharmaceutical consulting company in Kansas City, Mo. Amy just left her job of 32 years at Sprint, to work as the cave operations manager. “I would not have imagined this in my future,” Amy mused. “But, I have found it to be extraordinarily exciting and fun!” Her job at Sprint was in environmental stewardship. “This allows me to keep supporting the environment, but now we are now stewards of a great geological treasure.”

Stark Caverns Onyx Falls_sm.jpg — photo by Amy Hargroves

The Tour

The entire cave tour is paved and lit. The inside temperature stays a mild 57 degrees year-round—cool in the summer and warm in the winter—and the tour is 90 percent handicap-accessible. Spectacular natural formations include soda straws, flow stone, stalactites, stalagmites, helictites (bent soda straws), and giant, beautiful columns. Stark Caverns is well-known in the science world for its predominate fossil, stromatolite. Stromatolite is a form of blue green sea algae that has fossilized all over the ceilings at Stark Caverns. It is a very rare fossil to find, as conditions must be just right for their fossilization.

Stark Caverns Mystery Formation.jpeg — photo by Amy Hargroves

The Future

Amy and Jeff have been working on some exciting enhancements for Stark Caverns. The most obvious changes are the addition of two new buildings – a Visitor Center and a maintenance building. They have also added picnic tables and a campfire circle.

The first floor of the new visitor’s center will welcome guests and house ticket sales and a gift shop. The second floor will feature a museum and an Education Center/event space. The museum will feature historical artifacts and a photograph collection of the cave covering more than 100 years, and relevant natural science and history exhibits. The Education Center will allow the cave to offer classes, speakers, workshops, meetings, parties and training.

The Hargroves are taking a conservationist approach to reshape the grounds into a natural and relaxing oasis for both humans and wildlife. Some of these features include native wildflower beds, a butterfly garden, a campfire circle, handmade picnic tables, sitting benches and comfy rocking chairs. They are also planning to bring back to life one of the most fun historical uses of the caverns: the dance floor! By adding a large low deck on the old ballroom area, they will be able to host events inside the caverns. They already have an exciting holiday cave choral event planned.

bone passageway_sm.jpg — photo by Amy Hargroves

A Storied History

The first humans known to occupy the cave were Native Americans. An ancient fire-pit is located at the furthest point back in the cave where natural light can still be seen, the clay surface turned into terra cotta after thousands of years of use. Pottery and other artifacts have been found as well. Perhaps the most attentive-getting evidence are the human skeletal bones found in the cave. The bones have been verified by the University of Missouri and they date back to early native Americans from the Hopewell Culture, who lived during the Woodland Period (2,000 to 1,000 B.C.) The remains of a Hopewell baby, a 14-year old girl/mother, and an Indian Chief (with a dark reputation) have conjured up many a tall tale as to how the cave became their final resting place.

Early American Settlers

There is also evidence of American settlers using the cave as a cattle barn and for food storage. According to millercountymuseum.org, it's unknown when the cave was first found by European and American settlers, but the cave became well known locally after the property was purchased around 1836 by William Bunker, a veteran of the War of 1812. He lived above the cave in a log cabin with his six children. The property was later bought by Charles Stark, father to 18 children.

According to millercountymuseum.org, his family tree can be traced back to Scotland to a John Stark I, who was born in 1639.

Fountain of Youth.jpg — photo by Amy Hargroves

Confederate Guerillas

Legend has it that many of the caves in the Ozark hills were frequented by Jesse James, and Stark Caverns would have been a great out of the way hiding place for the notorious bad guy. The cave is known to have been a meeting place, and supply depo, for Confederate Guerrillas during the Civil War. According to civilwar.mo.org, guerrilla warfare went on in Missouri for most of the Civil War. Bands of pro-South men would hunt and kill Union soldiers and pro-Union civilians. One most notable attack happened just 90 miles north of Starks Cavern, in Centralia, Mo., and was led by a man named Bill Anderson. By war's end Anderson earned the nickname Bloody Bill due to the brutality of his gang, including two infamous members; Frank and Jesse James.

Speakeasy And Dancing

Adding to the cave's colorful history, during American Prohibition in the early 1900s, the cave became popular as a moonshine distillery and speakeasy, complete with a dance floor.

Other uses over the years have included a roller and ice-skating rink, a merry-go-round carousel, and a trout farm, created by three pristine creeks that flow into the property. A stream was dammed in the mid 1970s to form a lake outside of the cave.

Stark Caverns Hanging Gardens.jpg — photo by Amy Hargroves

The Stark Family

Purchase records from the early 1900s suggest the cave was opened as a tourist site by a group of businessmen, led by Floyd Hammitt. The cave opened as Stark Caverns, as a tour cave, in 1950, and was named for the owners at that time, the Stark Family. Since then, the cave has been operated under several names, including Fantasy World Caverns, Enchanted Caverns, Aurora Cave, Aurora Springs Cave, Miller County Cave and the Mammoth Cave of Miller County. Jeff and Amy Hargroves took the cave back to its original tour name, Stark Caverns, in 2017, and reopened the cave for tours the same year.

Planning A Visit?

The 3/4-mile, one-hour tours are available every day (except Thanksgiving and Christmas) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the fall, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the winter. The cost for ages 13 and older is $18, 5 through 12 is $9, and children four and under get in for free. There are also military, senior and group discounts. The cave is located at 125 Cave Drive in Eldon. For more information call 573-369-3306, or visit them online at www.starkcaverns.com or find Stark Caverns on Facebook.

Watch for additional upcoming special events, where you will be able to encounter nature and enjoy fun holiday events. Plans are in the works for exciting Wild Cave Tours, where visitors can go spelunking, get muddy and crawl to places in the cave where very few humans have ever been before.