Like most discoveries of this caliber, it was not some sort of world famous scientist or engineer who stumbled upon Crystal cave, but a local farm boy.  In 1881, sixteen year old William R. Vanasse was walking through the woods near his home.  He was poking at a tree or leaf with a stick when he lost his grip and it disappeared out of his sight.   It wasn’t until the next day that the true scope of what William had discovered came to light when William and his brother George descended into the cave.  For the most part the room they entered was filled with clay and other types of debris.  There were some visible signs of entrances to other galleries but that was about it.  The Cave at that point became known as Sander’s Corner Cave.  It remained relatively untouched for many years after that except for the occasional adventurer who came along. 

It wasn’t until a man by the name of Henry A. Friede came along that the cave that we know today started to take shape.   He was the first man to think about commercializing the cave.  Being an amateur geologist, Friede had been surveying different sites around the state hoping to make another huge discovery that would rival Cave of the Mounds in Wisconsin and Mystery and Niagara Caves in nearby Harmony, Minnesota.   Work didn’t begin until the week of November 2, 1941.  This is when major work started on the first and second levels of the cave.  Thanks to the initial efforts of six men most of the debris had been cleared out by April 1942. At this point there was 1101 linear feet of tunnels in the cave and is descended into the ground 81 feet.  An entrance building was built, thanks to Arthur Maher, a mason, out of dolomite fragments that had been removed during the cleaning process of the cave. 

Originally Friede wanted to open the cave up on Memorial Day 1942, but the region received 8 inches of rain in just 30 hours which caused massive flooding.  Many buildings and businesses in the area were severely damaged due t over six feet of flood waters.  The grand opening was postponed to the weekend of June 7, 1942.  According to a local paper, over 4000 people came to the grand opening of Crystal Cave that day.  Construction continued on the site for many years to come.  They added new buildings and rooms and eventually they added a restaurant in 1951.  At this point there were many changes in the ownership of the business.  As lucrative as the cave was Mr. and Mrs. Friede sold the cave to Mr. and Mrs. Moe in 1957.  The popularity and success did not subside even when Mr. and Mrs. Moe sold the cave in 1975 to Glen Buss who in turn returned it back to the Moe’s in 1983.  Finally, in 1986 the Moe’s sold the cave to Blaze and Jean Cunningham.  To this day they continue to run the cave as an educational facility.

Images of the Moes and Friedes as well as the restaurant that used to be at Crystal Caves

Surprisingly, exploration at the cave still continues to this day.  In 1992 the Minnesota Speleological Survey with the help of Blaze Cunningham and Nathan Carlson has tripled the size of the cave.  Data is being collected daily from the site with the hoping of creating the most detailed map of the cave to date. Map (264 KB)

By: Adam Rubach

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Last Update: November 21, 2007
Website Site Created By: Jake McDonald