Near this spot, shortly after Luray Caverns was found, Andrew Campbell was shown feeling the cool air of the newly discovered natural wonder in a photograph most likely taken by co-discoverer Benton Stebbins on August 13th, 1878. In 1974, Luray Caverns was designated a Registered Natural Landmark for its exceptional value as an illustration of the nation’s natural heritage and for contributing to a better understanding of man’s environment. The caverns were also associated with lines from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s c. 1798 poem about caverns measureless to man and a sunless sea.