Dunbar Cave

Dunbar Cave. An African American Space. From 1785 until 1864, more than one hundred African Americans were enslaved at the plantation that included Dunbar Cave. For these people, Dunbar Cave was a place of work. Hogs were often slaughtered at the mouth of the cave, and the meat stored inside. Corn, oats, and tobacco were also stored in the cave. The constant cool temperature of the chamber provided the refrigeration needed to keep food longer., John Barker, the plantation owner, built a house near the mouth of the cave that he called the “cave house,” likely for a hired overseer to supervise work that took place here. In the cave, at its mouth, and in the rich stream bottom where the lake and wetland is today, work took place here year-round. We have no record of enslaved workers exploring Dunbar Cave, but it is very likely they did. Working in the cool air of the cavern, however, would have been a reprieve from any field work., It is very possible that some of the houses of the enslaved were at the cave. A church was built early in the 19th century near the cave which was later used by the enslaved population. When Dunbar Cave became a resort after emancipation, it is very likely that African Americans served as cave guides. This was very common at tourist caves., During the late 1870s, Dunbar Cave was a segregated, privately owned resort and tourist attraction. Even though African Americans had lived and worked here for nearly a century, during segregation they were only permitted at Dunbar Cave as workers. Tennessee desegregated in 1964, but the resort was abandoned not long after that. African Americans were finally given equal access to Dunbar Cave when it became a Tennessee State Park in 1973., Captions (left to right) , . This November 1849 entry in Barker's journal highlights the nature of chattel slavery: John purchased Charity for Harris at $400. This entry is listed between an entry for selling a horse and another for gathering corn. Dunbar Cave State Park Archives , . This ca. 1950 photograph shows an African American man working as a server at the dance floor. This is one of the only known photos of an African American person at Dunbar Cave during the resort era. , . This ca. 1920s photo shows what the landscape at Dunbar Cave was like prior to the creation of the lake and wetland. It is similar to what the enslaved workers at the cave would have seen. Dunbar Cave State Park Archives