Graves brothers share history and vision for worldwide attraction
By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Oct. 16 — In 1974, the National Park Service designated Luray Caverns a registered National Landmark because the “site possesses exceptional value as an illustration of the nation’s natural heritage and contributes to a better understanding of man’s environment.”
“The Shenandoah Valley is a very special place, and Luray Caverns is a very special place within the Valley,” said Destry Jarvis, former assistant director of the National Park Service and senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Interior. On Wednesday, Jarvis shared stories of first visiting Luray Caverns as a teenager on a school trip, then visiting again in the ’80s with his children, and then announcing plans to come back in a few months with his grandchildren.
“It’s good that the Valley and this special place are recognized,” Jarvis continued. “Thanks to Rod and John [Graves] and the rest of their family in doing a spectacular job in caring for this place all these years.”
On Oct. 16, in front of the current welcome center and gift shop for the caverns, dozens gathered for a special celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the National Landmark designation. Attendees received ornaments and stickers marking the occasion, which included a 30-minute ceremony featuring remarks from the Graves brothers.
“We stand on the broad shoulders of the people who came before us…our father [H.T.N. “Ted” Graves] had a passion for preservation,” said Rod Graves, vice president of the Luray Caverns Corporation. “Dad often said we were stewards first and owners second, he instilled that ethic in us … and that’s a lot of what we have tried to carry on in our careers.”
In 1904, Rod and John’s great-grandfather, Theodore Clay Northcott, purchased the caverns from the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, which went bankrupt around that time. After serving in the Civil War, Northcott became a heating and cooling engineer in New York and was looking for a place for his wife to live after she was diagnosed with tuberculosis during one of the world’s largest outbreak of the disease. He thought the pure, clean cave air could help her breathing.
“He was on a race to save her life and he thought he could save her life and others,” Rod told those gathered on Wednesday. “His idea was simple, but unusual to some degree…he felt upon scientific data that a person could be cured of certain maladies of the lung if the purest air on the planet was breathed continually, without exposure to common air, that one could be relieved for a time or cured.”
After measuring air quality in places like the mountains of North Carolina near Ashville and along the seashores, Northcott heard that the local caverns was for sale and found that the air inside them was “97.1 percent bacteria free,” according to Rod. He purchased the caverns “with the sole purpose of building a sanatorium” with an HVAC system that utilized air from the cave. The first home and sanatorium of its kind was known as “Limeair”, and Northcott’s wife was cured of TB. Later that year, he would form the Luray Caverns Corporation.
“It’s a precious natural resource… this natural resource is of great significance to caves in general, with its vast rooms, its beautiful variety of formations and colors,” said John Graves, president of the Luray Caverns Corp. “The geological significance of this cavern is of great value to our underground water system that flows through our karst [topography] up and down this beautiful Valley in Virginia… educating the public about caves and karst through tourism has helped preserve this natural resource.”
Near the end of each summer, Luray Caverns celebrates its “Discovery Day” on Aug. 13, 1878. Dubbed at the time as the “discovery of the century” by the New York Herald, Luray Caverns would be featured in numerous national magazines like Harper’s Weekly and then studied by geologists from the Smithsonian Institute who would name its major features. In 1881, it became the first permanently electrically lighted caverns in the world. According to Rod Graves, “no other expanse greater in the United States was lighted at the time, except New York’s grand Central Park.”
In 1951, “Ted” Graves took over the corporation and began developing additional attractions at the caverns, like the Car and Carriage Caravan Museum, which marked the first museum dedicated to the history of transportation in the eastern United States in 1957. The Garden Maze (operated separately) was opened at the caverns in 2000, and the Luray Valley Museum opened around 2010 to celebrate local and regional history. In 2019, both Rod and John realized a dream of their father’s when they opened the ADA ramp leading to the entrance of the caverns, which ensured that visitors — especially those with disabilities — didn’t have to climb a single step as they took a tour leading them up to one mile below the surface.
Both Rod and John referenced plans to build a new welcome center over the next six months and concourse (in May) at the site of the construction in the parking lot, as well as begin a new project next year to add on to the Car and Carriage Caravan Museum with new automobiles from the ’50s through the ’70s.
“In 2026, we will be updating our electricity and relighting Luray Caverns with state-of-the-art lighting,” said Rod. “We are most excited about putting this establishment on a great path for the next generation to enjoy.”
Rod Graves was in the fourth grade when his father secured the National Landmark designation for Luray Caverns.
“It was the first caverns privately owned in the Unites States to be designated [as a National Landmark] and he was most proud of that and felt the designation gave it proper recognition nationally that is so deserved,” Rod told the crowd on Wednesday. “The Shenandoah Valley is considered one of the most beautiful places in the world… I know it certainly is to me… In this great Valley here in Virginia, the underground also holds its inner beauty and mysteries of the karst underworld for us to discover.”
Just before cutting a ribbon and enjoying some light refreshments with the crowd — which included elected officials such as Virginia Senator Mark Obenshain, District 2 Supervisor Allen Louderback and Luray Mayor Jerry Dofflemyer — John Graves closed out the ceremony by marking the importance of the caverns and its National Landmark designation.
“Ted Graves was clear on the benefits of preserving the beautiful cavern and having this designation which encourages the preservation of all natural treasures…this national natural landmark [designation] elevated Luray Caverns to a nationally and internationally recognized caverns of great significance to our United States,” said John. “We have people from all over the world come to Luray, Virginia to see this cave and enjoy this lovely town, and this county and this whole area. As in the past 50 years and before, we will continue preseving this cavern for the benefit of the world to enjoy.”
For more information on Luray Caverns,
visit https://luraycaverns.com/
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