Don't Call it a Comeback

I've been here for years.  Well, officially one year over on my other blog bactrianbria.blogspot.com, at least.  I know I have neglected my internet shrine to all things Bactrian, but there are many reasons for my absence.  Reason number one: I'm busy working my terrible job and making ends meet around this house I call home.  Reason number two:  I've been caught up in non-Bactrian related research.  Thus, I have created this blog to chronicle my research on other history related things.

Recently, I've become consumed in researching the history of Alum Cave, a former town in Sullivan County that rose and fell with the mine that supported it.  I've been intrigued by this town since I initially read about it in the book Hoosier Folk Legends by Ronald L. Baker.  The legend of Alum Cave, as related in Baker's tome, states that it was a rowdy, violent town that was built inside a cave.  The source of the legend claims that a stabbing occurred every weekend and a doctor would only visit the town once a week because it was so dangerous.  This captured my imagination.  "How awesome would it be to discover a ghost town inside a cave?!" I thought to myself (and still think to myself from time to time).  I asked my grandmother if she knew where Alum Cave was, and she replied that it was located somewhat close to her family's farm where she grew up, which is now where my uncle lives.  I asked her if there was a town in a cave there, to which she replied in the negative.  I let it go, content to let my dream of a town in a cave simmer on the back-burner of my brain. 

Now, years later, I became intrigued with the topic of Alum Cave again.  Once again, having read Hoosier Folk Legends this year (it's one of my favorite books), Alum Cave stuck out in my mind as a great mystery of Sullivan County History.  I did some searching on Google and found this article.  This obscure blurb on Alum Cave, properly called New Pittsburgh, contains information on its location, some of the town's features, and notable events, but glosses over the town's demise.  The author prefers to spend time describing the scenery of the post-village terrain and the gathering of former townspeople every August to reminisce about life at Alum Cave.  The bibliography does contain two articles that are worth looking into, but I have not sought them out yet.  Nevertheless, this write up from the Federal Writers' Project of 1936 is helpful as a solid starting point for further research into Alum Cave.

It is also important to note that this article on Alum Cave contains a tantalizing description of the labor disputes between the New Pittsburgh Coal and Coke Co. and its employees, leading to the eventual unionization of the miners.  With Right-to-Work and Union-busting in the headlines right now, I think it is important to look at the fight for organization our forebears undertook, and Alum Cave seems to serve as a fair example of that era.

Bibliography

Unknown. "The Ghost Town of Alum Cave".  Federal Writers' Project.  March 20, 1936.  Wabash Valley Visions and Voices Project website.  http://visions.indstate.edu:8888/cdm/compoundobject/collection/isulib/id/1587/rec/1. 2005.