Abstract Grand Caverns is the oldest show cave in continuous operation in the contiguous United States. Discovered in 1804, Grand Caverns has been offering at least one tour per year continuously from 1806 until now. For more than two centuries Grand Caverns – which is host to diverse and uncommon solution cave speleothems, such as cave shields – has served as the centre for multidisciplinary research related to limestones in Virginia and has accrued historical accounts relevant to the Shenandoah Valley (nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Allegheny Mountains to the west) in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In this article, we explore the geological, historical, mapping and geotourism legacies of Grand Caverns, using its geoheritage as a narrative framework. In addition, we discuss the intersection of historical and diverse concurrent heritages at Grand Caverns and their relevance for understanding national show caves and cave development processes, and we share ongoing efforts towards the construction of a proposal to elevate Grand Caverns to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage list.

Abstract The Great Valley of Virginia (GVV) is a section of a much larger geological structure that spans from the northeastern USA through the mid-Atlantic and to the SE. While the structural formation of the region represents nearly 1.2 billion years of geological history, the rocks that remain record vast cycles of tectonic change. The legacy of that geology is a rich and aesthetically attractive region that has drawn many peoples over time to its agricultural fertility and geological resources. This contribution traces the geological development of the GVV, the relationship of the GVV to the peoples, both indigenous and European colonizers, who have inhabited the GVV over thousands of years and the geological resources that the inhabitants found. Although relatively under-expressed from a geoheritage perspective, the GVV possesses a rich legacy of how its resources supported each society's needs and interests and the role its geological environment has played at critical moments in the historical development of the USA over the last 400 years.

Abstract The Town Creek locale in Jackson, Mississippi exposes fossiliferous strata through stream erosion and provides evidence for stratal doming atop an extinct volcano. Charles Lyell (1797–1875) investigated the locale on his second visit to North America (1845–46) and concluded that Town Creek fossils were older than Vicksburg fossils, and that strata dipped westward from Jackson. In the 1850s, Mississippi's state geologist Eugene Hilgard (1833–1916) recognized the first volcanic doming evidence and correctly concluded that a ‘local upheaval’ had elevated the Jackson area. Subsequent research revealed an extinct volcano as Jackson Dome's source, explaining the strata dip and Lyell's observation that Jackson's Eocene fossils were older than Vicksburg fossils, later identified as Oligocene. The Jackson fossiliferous strata, known today as the Moodys Branch Formation, exquisitely preserves fossils that have contributed to numerous scientific investigations. The Town Creek locale was threatened in 2003 when a proposed flood control project would have inundated it. Scientists rallied for the preservation of the geologically and historically important Town Creek, and today it remains as a geoheritage site available to scientists and the public, with a state historical marker noting its geological importance. Long-term preservation of the locale is needed but not guaranteed.