ROGERS -- The name of a historical figure was found carved into a previously inaccessible area of War Eagle Cavern, cavern employees say.
The carving spells out "Blackburn" -- the last name of Sylvanus and Catherine Blackburn, who built the first mill at the War Eagle Mill site in 1832, according to a recent news release.
An expansion project has been underway at the cavern for several months. The construction of a new walkway in the cavern will allow visitors to see the carving, general manager Guy Schiavone said in the release.
"Over the years we have explored those areas in the cavern many times and discovered hundreds of signatures, but we have never noticed the Blackburn signature because of how high up it is," he said.
Tom Rasmussen, historian and guide at War Eagle Mill, is conducting research in hopes of determining who carved the name, according to the release. The name may have been carved by a member of the Blackburn family like one of Sylvanus Blackburn's 11 children, he stated in the release.
Sylvanus Blackburn was born in 1809 and died in 1890. The Blackburns once operated a successful lumber and mill business in the area, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. The family's home is still standing along War Eagle Creek.
War Eagle Cavern and War Eagle Mill are separate and unaffiliated tourist attractions in Benton County.
Both are a part of the tourism draw that nearby outdoor activities at Beaver Lake and Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area add to Northwest Arkansas, according to J.R. Shaw, executive director of Visit Rogers and executive vice president of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce.
History adds yet another layer of intrigue for visitors, Shaw said. Some stories have circulated about bootleggers and outlaws like Jesse James hiding out in the region's caves, he said.
The new cavern expansion opened to the public Saturday.
Visitors can take guided tours through the cavern near Beaver Lake. The cavern is closed each December, January and February, according to its website.
War Eagle Mill is a working gristmill in east Rogers near Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area. The current mill is a reproduction of the 1872 Blackburn family mill. It is the only gristmill in Arkansas and may be the only operational undershot waterwheel in the United States, according to the business.