During America’s Prohibition era and beyond, Alabamians needed places to imbibe out of sight of law enforcement officers. In many cases, drinkers were literally driven underground as caves became popular party spots across the country. Bars opened in at least three large cave systems in Alabama: DeSoto Caverns, now called Majestic Caverns, in Talladega County; Shelta Cave in Madison County; and Bangor Cave in Blount County.

Click through the gallery above to see photos of all three caves.

Club caves

Caves were used during nationwide Prohibition (1920-1933) and during the subsequent years when Alabama laws continued to make alcohol illegal. Some Alabama counties continued to outlaw alcohol into the 21st century, with Clay County being the last holdout when two of its cities legalized alcohol in 2016.

Club caves were sometimes modified into swanky clubs with bars carved into stone, dining tables and dance floors.

According to an article by the Encyclopedia of Alabama, authorities were busy chasing bootleggers in Alabama throughout the 1920s.

“Along the Gulf Coast, the U.S. Coast Guard patrolled for smugglers trying to bring alcohol ashore from Cuba,” the article said. “The Customs Bureau watched the port, the rail lines connecting Mobile to New Orleans, and the roads leading to Birmingham and beyond. Inland, agents of the Prohibition Bureau raided speakeasies, where customers ordered illicit cocktails, and busted up backwoods stills.”

During Prohibition, as many as 18,000 Alabamians were arrested and more than 10,000 brought to trial for violating anti-liquor laws.

Kymulga Cave

The cave system first known to Talladega County locals as Kymulga Cave was used as a nightclub in the 1920s. It gained such a reputation for violence that it was called “The Bloody Bucket,” according to an article by the Encyclopedia of Alabama.

The cave, which became Desoto Caverns in 1979 and Majestic Caverns in 2022, was used during the Civil War to mine saltpeter, or calcium nitrate, which was used to make gunpowder for the Confederate Army. The Army paid men up to 59 cents per pound for saltpeter.

After the war, the cave was left empty until 1912, when Ida Mathis and a group of investors bought the cave for its abundant onyx. When the investors could not get approval to mine the cave, Ida’s son Allen bought the cave, which was again left empty.

In the 1920s, residents would come to the caverns to sip moonshine, square dance and do some illegal gambling. The combination proved to be dangerous – fights would break out, sometimes resulting in shootings, leading to its nickname.

The cavern’s reputation grew until law agencies heard of it and federal agents raided and closed it.

In the early 1960s, Allen Mathis began to develop the caverns into a tourist attraction. It opened to the public in 1965. Also that year, University of Alabama archaeologists unearthed remains of a 2,000-year-old Native American, which are now on display in the caverns.

Majestic Caverns is only open to the public on weekends, except by appointment. Find information here.

Shelta Cave

Shelta Cave in Huntsville was purchased by the National Speleological Society in 1967. Entry to the cave requires a permit from the NSS. Find information here.

The cave is 2,500 feet long and has one of the most diverse ecosystems in North America. The NSS uses Shelta to study cave biology. Scientists have found nine unique species – three beetles, two crayfish, a shrimp, and three other arthropods – in addition to other cave life, according to the NSS.

Before the cave was purchased for study and preservation, it was used as a party palace. In the late 19th century, before Prohibition began, Shelta Cave was the site of parties and underground boating.

In 1888, according to The Huntsville Gazette, “electric arc lights” were added to the cave and local residents would descend by ladder 30 feet into the darkness of the cave and pay 50 cents to dance by candlelight.

The next year, the cave hosted the convention of the Alabama Press Association. Dinner was served to 160 editors from around the state.

A 1936 article in The Huntsville Times recalled the event. “During the meal, an orchestra played from a large dance platform, sending forth music that reverberated through the damp passageways of the cave,” the article said.

The cave was closed for a few years in the early 20th century and reopened in 1906. It was once again used as a dance hall during Prohibition years. Shelta Cave was placed on the National Registry for Natural Landmarks in 1971.

Bangor Cave

Many historians believe Bangor Cave in Blount County was used as a speakeasy in the 1920s but it didn’t gain widespread fame until 1937. That year, a fancy club and casino opened in the cave 30 miles north of Birmingham near where Interstate 65 is now located. It was billed as “America’s Only Underground Nightclub,” according to The Montgomery Advertiser.

J. Breck Musgrove and investors had lined the cave’s floor with tiles, installed mahogany gaming tables, and carved a bar and orchestra pit from stone.

People came from miles around to drink and dance beneath a ceiling painted to resemble the sky but the casino, which was illegal, was located behind a locked door and open only to a special few with especially fat wallets, according to a 1977 article in The Birmingham News.

Meals could be purchased for $1.10 and entertainment included Billy Yates and his 12-Piece Orchestra and various vaudeville acts. Patrons could bring their own drinks, or drinks could be purchased at the bar. Martinis were 35 cents.

A spur of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad that took patrons to Blount Springs would stop at the rural cave for 10 cents.

When Governor Bibb Graves heard of the sinful goings-on, he included Bangor Cave on his list of “notorious dives” he wanted closed, according to a 1937 article in The Decatur Daily.

In August 1937, the Southern Democrat newspaper reported a raid on the club: “Hitting with a bang that reverberated over the entire state, our new sheriff, Ed Miller, raided Bangor Gave on Saturday night just after the clock had passed the midnight hour and made a haul not only in gaming tables, but in arrests and drinks that make wild men wilder.”

More raids would be required before the club finally closed in 1939. By then, the press had turned against the club. The Southern Democrat in Oneonta called it “a den of vice unequaled in Alabama.”

Bangor Cave is on private property and not open to the public.