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Barren County · Prehistoric · 1859

Diamond Caverns' Decorated Limestone

Discovered July 14, 1859, near Park City and opened as a show cave within a month, Diamond Caverns cuts Mississippian Ste.

Genevieve limestone in the same karst country as Mammoth Cave. Without Mammoth's Big Clifty sandstone caprock, surface water keeps dissolving and redepositing calcite—so the passages glitter with stalactites, flowstone, and "diamond" crystals that gave the cave its name.

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Published . Last revised .

Chicago

Snowden, Shannon. "Diamond Caverns' Decorated Limestone." Kentucky History Drive. Published September 12, 2026. Last revised September 12, 2026. https://kyhistorydrive.com/stories/diamond-caverns-decorated-limestone/.

MLA

Snowden, Shannon. "Diamond Caverns' Decorated Limestone." Kentucky History Drive, published 12 Sept. 2026, last revised 12 Sept. 2026, https://kyhistorydrive.com/stories/diamond-caverns-decorated-limestone/.

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