About
Certified cultural district designation.
Horse Cave, (population 2,250) is located on the southern edge of Hart County. The town is centered on a cave from which it derived its name and water supply. It was an oasis of water, cool air and shelter. There is no certain source for the name. Several have been suggested. The most plausible source is that the word “horse” was frequently used in the 18th and 19th centuries for something extraordinarily large: horse-laugh, horse chestnut, etc. The entrance to the cave, located on Main Street in downtown, is the largest natural opening in the entire cave area.
Horse Cave’s charming Arts & Shopping District has more than 50 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Colorful awnings and Victorian gingerbread decorate the town. If you look closely, you can trace the pathway of the cave under your feet.
Hidden River Cave, the largest privately operated cave in Kentucky, is located right on Main Street in historic downtown Horse Cave. A tour of Hidden River Cave takes you through one of the state’s most scenic cave entrances to a subterranean river flowing 100 feet below ground. You can take a leisurely tour or get “down and dirty” on the their “Adventure Tour.”
Adjacent to the cave is the American Cave Museum, honored by The Nature Conservancy Magazine as “a little bit of Smithsonian in rural Kentucky”. You’ll enjoy their state-of –the-art exhibits of cave bats, blindfish and other cave animals; prehistoric and modern cave explorers; the history of cave country and the "cave wars".If you’re looking for great entertainment, you can find it right on Main Street. Kentucky Repertory Theatre has offered acclaimed professional productions for more than 30 years. Honored by USA Today as “one of the 10 great places to see the lights way off Broadway”, Kentucky Repertory Theatre brings the classics, Shakespeare, comedies, original Kentucky plays and children’s productions to the stage in a historic building that also houses the Thomas Opera House, a historic vaudeville stage.