Crystal Caverns at Hupp's Hill loses the battle to stay open and the spirits are upset

Hupp's Hill is permanently closed (photo by John Rossi)

Crystal Caverns at Hupp's Hill Battlefield near Strasburg, Virginia, is now permanently closed, another victim of present economic conditions. The site included the Stonewall Jackson Museum, Civil War earthworks, two wild caves, and a cavern which had guided tours.

The contents of the museum are being distributed to other local museums or being sold to the general public.

The Wayside Foundation of Virginia which operated this site as well as the Jeanne Dixon Museum and the Presidents Museum (both of which have already been closed) will no longer exist after December, 2010.

A few organizations expressed some interest in taking this property over but running the operation did not appeal to anyone.

Seems all fight has been exhausted on this battlefield, and the property itself is left now to return to nature. Yet it is not only the living who feels the loss. The spirits that remain are upset as well. A Native American shaman will perform rituals in the caverns to attempt to calm them.

Crystal Caverns (photo by John Rossi)

A unique and historically significant contribution to American History

Crystal Caverns has witnessed the struggle of human existence playing out long before recorded history in 1755. According to an investigation report by Mid-Atlantic Paranormal Investigations:

• Native American hunting parties first used it for shelter.
• Hupps emigrants used it for cold storage of food and hosted “Grand Illuminations” where they decorated the cavern with candles and lanterns.
• Hupps children and servants played off from school in it.
• Escaped slaves used it for a refuge.
• Great battles of the Civil War were fought right in front of it.
• Deserters, North and South, sought shelter in it.
• A military hospital was set up in it (the only cave in Virginia used as a military hospital).
• Tourists started visiting it in 1922.
• The psychic, Jeanne Dixon, often used it to meditate and re-energize her psychic abilities and received her famous prediction while in it about who would win the 1960 Presidential election and that the winner would be assassinated.

Artillery Soldier (photo by John Rossi)

The cavern itself is made up of Ordovician limestone which contains only a small amount of minerals. This causes the formations inside to be very white and shimmer like crystals, hence the name, Crystal Cavern.

The spirits on land and in the caverns

With such a long history, the Crystal Caverns and surrounding property is now home to many spirits. The area has been investigated by various paranormal researchers, one of which is Shenandoah Shadows of Winchester, Virginia.

This group will conduct the last authorized investigation on June 12, 2010, on live radio, and it is a follow-up investigation that will focus on non-human entities previously seen. Temperature anomalies were picked up on the FLIR Thermal Camera in the same area at the same time. UFO activity has been reported there as well. A Native American shaman identified this area as a plot of desecrated graves.

John Rossi of Shenandoah Shadows, photographed the eerie form of a Civil War soldier during their May, 2010, investigation.

“I had been hoping that I would get a photo of a soldier as I was standing on the battlefield’s canon earthworks,” said John. “So when I first saw the photo during evidence review, I was excited but a little disappointed, too. Not knowing much about the Civil War, I thought the Union uniform was always entirely dark blue. The apparition I photographed had light blue pants with a dark blue top.”

John showed the photograph to the executive director of the site. She took him into the museum and pointed out the Union uniforms on display. The Union Cavalry’s colors were a dark blue tunic cut well above the waist with light blue pants. The Union infantry’s colors were dark blue tunics, mid-thigh length, over light blue pants. The Union artillery troops’ colors were a dark blue tunic, waist length, over light blue pants. John had captured a Union artillery soldier’s picture stationed on the earthworks.

The preservation of historical sites may not seem so important these days while people are distracted by their own economic problems, but for future generations, the education these sites provide are invaluable as memorials to teach us not only never to repeat the mistakes of the past but to continue in the successes which make civilization great.