Among local legends in the Ste. Genevieve community of Zell is one concerning a cave used for aging local products of the brewer’s art. Dr. J. Harlen Bretz, chronicler of Missouri caves, details this story in his 1956 Caves of Missouri. “One night a hogshead sprang a leak. It was empty by morning, and all the beer had disappeared down cracks in the floor. About the middle of that forenoon, A German farmer in the valley below, came into town wildly excited. "Mein Gott, Mein Gott!” he cried, "mein schpring, she is running beer!”
While it seems unlikely even a hogshead of beer would manage to get to a nearby spring intact, Zell Cave, or Tavern Cave, did have a claim to fame as a cool spot to eat a meal, have a beverage, and even dance the night away.
Settlers first located on the site of Zell, named for a town in Baden, Germany, in 1798 after Spanish authorities granted 1,000 arpents of land to Pierre Charles Dehault Delassus Deluziere. The grant came to his grand-nephew Felix de St. Vrain after his death in 1819. Initially the settlement was Nouvelle Alsace. German settlers arrived in 1837 and changed the name to Zell in 1840. Zell had a post office from 1886 to 1922 and still boasts the 180-year-old St. Joseph Catholic Church.
The early days of Zell Cave are poorly documented. Prior to its heyday from the late 1930s until World War II, a building was built over the entrance as a small store. A prior owner opened the cave, at least on a limited basis, because accounts refer to its opening in 1938 as a “reopening.” The owner in 1938, Lawrence S. “Pop” Huck, refurbished the building. One newspaper account from October 1939, noted that Huck had positioned ventilators and motors to direct cool air from the cave upstairs to the recreation and refreshment room for those unwilling to brave the stairway into the cave.
Huck advertised the opening of Zell Cave for Sunday, July 3, 1938. He offered chicken sandwiches, hamburgers, beer, ice cream, and soda on the café menu, and for those who wanted, a dance floor.
Likely fueled by the novelty of having a meal and drink in a cave, Zell Cave initially attracted large crowds. One estimate is that over 300 people visited on opening day.
The cave attracted 955 visitors from June to December 1939. In the days before air conditioning, it offered a spot to avoid the heat and dance in comfort. Various groups and organizations organized outings to Zell Cave during this time. It was particularly popular with youth groups on sweltering summer weekends.
Tourism nearly ceased with the start of World War II in 1942. Gasoline rationing and the war effort took priority, and few visited Zell Cave. It never really recovered after the war as a tourist attraction, and with the large-scale advent of air conditioning, the attraction of dining in a cool cave lessened.
Even after the War, the business was a local hit. It was the center of community activity in many respects. The store was a mini-grocery, tavern with pool tables, neighborhood gathering place, and gas station. Also operating under the names of Huck’s Store or Pop’s Tavern, the cave was the real attraction for non-local visitors. Huck offered the cave and business for sale in April 1945, and thereafter the business passed through several owners. It operated until about 1970, noted by occasional news items that mentioned groups visiting the cave.
