THE AUCILLA RIVER CAVES

George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III
Aucilla Research Institute

Based on writings of local historian Mary Lou Bennett, a cave system as large as the well-known Florida Caverns in the Panhandle, once existed along the Aucilla River in the vicinity of the Aucilla sinks trail. Reportedly, the cave system was destroyed by a limestone crushing operation established by Taylor County in the late 1920s and early 1930s that was developed to manufacture crushed limestone for county road construction and maintence. The cave was reported to have covered several acres with multiple entrances. Early pioneer settlers in the area were said to have found Native American artifacts in the caves suggesting considerably use. Longtime residents of the area reported visiting the cave prior to its destruction and seeing evidence of more recent visitors in the form of carved initials from a century ago. As evidence of the size of the cave, the Perry TACO Times newspaper editor reportedly had a photograph of the cave with a woman standing on the cave floor with about four or five foot clearance above her head.
Although that cave system was reportedly destroyed, there are numerous others along the area just west of the lower Aucilla of varying sizes. As one example, the late long-time resident of the area, Jack Simpson, reported visiting a cave system along the river in the 1950s that had initials and dates of local folks from the late 1800s. Another well-known resident of that area, the late Junior Padgett, described them by saying that deer hounds were known to disappear into some of the caves.
A group from the Panhandle Archaeological Society did a recent brief study of several smaller caves along the Half-Mile Rise section of the River. The caves that they examined were found to have vertical entrance systems having a one to two meter drop before branching off laterally in various directions. The entrances often required crawling on one’s hand and knees.
With the limited number of caves examined in that study, no human cultural remains were found. Nevertheless, evidence of various animal life, including a dog skull, were found. In addition, according to Joe Davis of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, there was considerable evidence of “ursid cave art”, such as bear claw marks all over the walls of some of the caves examined.
Although no evidence of past human activity was found in the limited number of caves in the Aucilla River area explored by archaeologists to date, there is reason to believe that some of them were used for shelter by some of the first residents of the area and have archaeological significance. But, the nature of the caves in the area, with their vertical entrances, make them difficult to find and explore in the wild lands around the lower Aucilla. Due to the karst nature of the ground in that area, there are, without doubt, many more to be explored. Further, without doubt, some of those were used for shelter by the early residents of the area. As a result, the caves of the River are a important goal for study in piecing together the early history of the area.