Cave City, AR

Cave City sits in Independence and Sharp counties over the underground Crystal River that gave the city its name. The town grew around the Laman brothers' 1890 move to the site, was incorporated in 1907, and used the cave to supply the early school and as a very practical underground refrigerator for milk and butter. In the 1930s the cave grounds became Cave Courts, now described as Arkansas's oldest motor court. Watermelons became the modern calling card, with an annual festival dating to 1980. Cave City's local read is cave, motel court, and melons, all tied to the water moving underneath Main Street.