Approximately 1,120 feet below ground within the heart of Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga,Tennessee, lies the United States’ tallest and deepest waterfall, Ruby Falls.
It is located at the end of the main passage of Ruby Falls Cave, in a large vertical shaft that was eroded out of limestone rock by salt water millions of years ago.
Ruby Falls Cave had no natural openings and could not be entered until the 20th Century. In 1905 the natural entrance to Lookout Mountain Cave was closed during the construction of a railway tunnel.
In the 1920s a chemist and cave enthusiast named Leo Lambert thought that he could re-open the cave as a tourist attraction, and formed a company to do so. In 1928 began to drill through the limestone, they found the breathtaking waterfall. Lambert named the falls after his wife, Ruby, and opened the area as a public attraction in 1930.
Public tours began in 1930. Electric lights were installed in the cave, making it one of the first commercial caves to be so outfitted. Electric lights were installed in the cave,
making it one of the first caves in the world to be electrified.
In 1954, the pathway around the basin was cut in order to allow tourists a better view of the falls. This began the tour-related quip regarding not drinking the falls' water.
Though pure and thus safe to drink, it has large concentrations of magnesium from the strata of the mountain, which makes it a natural laxative.
Ruby Falls proved to be the most popular with its many unusual formations and of course the waterfall itself. It is believed to be 30 million years old and has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
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