Powell Liberty Historical Society

Olentangy Caverns is one of Liberty Township’s oldest tourist attractions—now in its 91st year—but long before visitors paid admission, the site was already a geological marvel wrapped in layers of local lore.

The caverns opened to the public in 1935 under the ownership of two local schoolteachers, S. M. Allgyer and Richard Leitch. Until the early 1800s, the caves were largely unknown to settlers. According to local legend, their discovery came when farmer J. M. Adam’s ox fell through a natural vertical shaft nearly 50 feet deep. Inside one chamber, explorers later found the name G. F. Wells carved into the limesto

Long before European settlement, Native Americans are believed to have used the caverns for centuries. Artifacts recovered from the site suggest the caverns held practical and possibly ceremonial significance, adding to the enduring mystique of the underground landscape.

A Delaware newspaper once asked, “What Burbles Beneath Delaware County?”—a playful nod to the long‑standing belief in an underground river. That idea traces back to Richard Martin, who as a boy crawled into a cave west of the Olentangy River near Liberty Road. After squeezing through roughly 100 feet of passage, he and his friends reached a sudden drop‑off. From below, they claimed to hear the sound of rushing water. Martin repeated the story decades later at age 81, keeping the legend alive.

In 1994, geological consultant and former Powell resident Rick Brown explained that the area surrounding the caverns contains several sinkholes—natural entrances into the same limestone system. One of the most dramatic is Raccoon Cave, where Wildcat Run disappears underground about 1,500 feet east of Liberty Road after heavy rains. Brown knew the caverns well; he served as a tour guide there for four summers during high school.

Brown noted that these features are typical of the region’s Columbus Limestone, a formation created during the Devonian Period roughly 350 million years ago. This band of limestone—80 to 100 feet thick in western Delaware County—stretches nearly 20 miles wide from Lake Erie to the Ohio River. Columbus Limestone is very porous allowing more water to flow through it and therefore forming large caverns and underground channels where water can travel unseen.

Even modern infrastructure has encountered these hidden voids. In the 1980s, Del-Co Water drilled two wells on its Liberty Township property that produced 350 gallons per minute but were abandoned due to high mineral content. During construction of a 30‑million‑gallon reservoir in 1987–88, workers discovered a cavern beneath the basin when water drained through a hole “the size of a pickup truck.” The opening had limestone walls and funneled millions of gallons into the subterranean system before being sealed and reinforced.

Today, Olentangy Caverns reaches a depth of about 75 feet and includes three levels open to the public. A rumored fourth level—said to contain blind fish—has never been confirmed, but the story remains part of the site’s folklore.

The modern attraction spans 37 acres, offering not only guided cave tours but also gem mining, a petting zoo, miniature golf, and a walking trail. It remains a place where geology, history, and local storytelling meet.

As Rick and the other guides liked to say at the end of each tour—recalling the tale of the ox that started it all— “If you’re in the area again, do like Mr. Adams’ ox did, and drop in on us.”