Perry's Cave


Useful Information

Location: South Bass Island Put-in-Bay, OH.
Open: APR Sat, Sun 11-17.
MAY to SEP daily 10-18.
OCT Sat, Sun 11-17.
[2010]
Fee: Adults USD 7.50, Children (6-12) USD 4.50, Children (0-5) free.
Groups (25+): Adults USD 5, Students (grades 7-12) USD 5, Children (6-12) USD 3.50. Lantern Tour: Per Person USD 20, minimum of four, reservation required.
[2010]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: L=63 m, W=50 m, T=10 °C.
Guided tours: D=20 min.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Perry's Cave, Inc., 979 Catawba Ave., PO Box 122, Put-in-Bay, OH 43456, Tel: +1-419-285-2405, Fax: +1-419-285-3188. E-mail: contact
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1813 discovered by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.

Description

Perry Cave, Put-In-Bay, Ohio. Detroit Publishing Co. no. 017302. c1904.

Perry's Cave is named after the man who discovered it, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, hero of the battle of Lake Erie. He stored ammunition and prisoners in the cave.

The cave lies 15 m below South Bass Island, an island at the southern shore of Lake Erie. The cave has an underground lake called Perry's Cave Lake, his level rising and falling with that of Lake Erie, This indicates a subterranean connection, which actually connects the purity of the lake water with the water in the cave. At Perry's time the water was considered to be clean, Perry's men used the water to drink after they had become ill, and the water cured them.

The luxurious Victory Hotel, once the largest hotel in the World, used the water from the cave lake. The hotel burned down in 1919, the ruins are visible at the South Bass Island State Park.