Sleeping In Time

"Sleep In A Wigwam,” beckons the neon sign, imploring travelers on North Dixie Highway to stop and experience a slice of Americana fresh out of the past.

Stretching from Chicago to Miami, the road hosts enough motels to keep any road-tripper satisfied, but none are quite like Wigwam Village No. 2 in Cave City, KY. With easy access to Mammoth Cave National Park, Cave City is just under two hours from Nashville.

Built in 1937 by Frank Redford, staying there is like going in a time machine to the days of roadside attractions, before the interstate diluted the small-town charm of road trips.

“We call it sleeping in time because it really feels like you’re in a different era,” says co-owner Keith Stone, 64, a friendly man with a lighthearted sarcastic edge to him.

Consisting of 18 teepees positioned in a ring, Wigwam Village No. 2 is one of three surviving original Redford wigwam villages in the United States, according to the village’s website.

Since purchasing the village in November 2020, Stone and his wife, Megan, have preserved its history by working to restore the village to its former glory.

“Keith and Megan have kept its historical nature but given it updates it needed, like Wi-Fi and new beds” said Jennifer McNett, the director of Cave City tourism.

The wooden doors to the teepees stick, but that’s part of the village’s charm, the teepees are nearly 80 years old after all. The slanted white walls on the inside of the teepees are soon to be replaced with wood, a part of the effort to make the village look like it did when it opened.

The dark wood beds and tables inside the teepees are original from 1937, Stone says. Grainy photographs of days past at the village hang on the walls of every teepee, gentle reminders of its age.

Visitors to the village might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Vetra, the Stones’ black cat named after Redford’s wife, scurrying up the outside of the teepees.

Preserving such a place is not easy, but the Stones have a passion for the village. This past Thanksgiving they even got married in the village’s big teepee, originally a restaurant, the inside of which is bare as it’s soon to be a coffee shop.

The restorations at the village are far from complete, as out of the 15 teepees dedicated to housing guests, only four are currently under construction. The rest will soon follow.

“It’s on the National Register of Historic Places,” Stone said. “So, we want to make sure we honor that.”

Inside every teepee is a booklet written by Stone about the village. It details its history extensively, as well as that of Redford’s wigwam village chain.

It even includes a Q+A with the Kentucky Native American Commission, which details the history of Kentucky Native Americans and clarifies that “wigwam” is a misnomer. This is a teepee village, thank you very much.

“We’re not selling you a Native American experience, we’re selling you an Americana experience,” Stone said.

Laticia Cline, a local business owner and international model who owns Ace Coffee Co. in town, appreciates the Stones’ efforts to preserve the village and as a result, that of her hometown. The history of Wigwam Village No. 2 and Cave City are linked because of the village’s influence on tourism there, she said.

“Some people come to Cave City just to visit the Wigwams,” she said.

Cline herself has an interest in historical preservation, her home above the coffee shop bursting with antique memorabilia from Cave City. A giant faded billboard that used to encourage travelers to visit the village rests against her wall.

“Anyone that takes the time to preserve kitschy small-town things like the Wigwam Village, I appreciate,” Cline said, scooping up her mewing newly adopted kitten.

Preservation is second nature to Cave City, even beyond the Wigwam Village, as several historic buildings there have been converted into local businesses.

Ace Coffee Co. is built from the shell of a former theater, from which the coffeeshop gets its name. Several antique stores line the main street stuffed to the brim with knickknacks and trinkets, many being a part of Cave City history.

From a World War II divers’ helmet and a giant wooden cannon to a rusted Mobil Oil lubester and a faded photograph of a “Black American couple,” frame included, Cave City is an antique hunter’s paradise.

One such store is built inside of an old bank, with a metal vault door to top it off, and, of course, a plaque pinned to it detailing the building’s history.

The residents of Cave City don’t need gaudy patriotic shrines to show off that they’re red-blooded Americans, the history of the country lives and breathes in the town with Wigwam Village No. 2 at the center.

Though the trappings of the modern world have taken root in Cave City, the locals keep the past at the heart of it. Stone is no exception as he continues a Wigwam Village tradition that Redford started.

Nearly every night at sunset, Stone starts a fire in the center of the village. Travelers who’ve found their way to the village gather round, warming up to each other while the fire grows.

People come for a variety of reasons, but often they’re just looking for an experience off the beaten path.

“We were looking for something out of the box, not a chain,” Scott Williams, a visitor to the village said.

As the stars shine against the pitch-black sky, free from city lights, s’mores are passed around. The conversations had while the fire crackles remain surface level, but still, glimmers of community peek through chats about sports teams and hometowns. Just like the village itself, this form of connection is a relic from a bygone era.

The rarity of this phenomenon is not lost on Stone, he says.

“It gives you a license to talk to strangers. You don’t get that at a motel,” Stone said.

Maybe it’s the promise of community or proximity bringing people out of their teepees every night, but when Stone lights the fire, they come sit together, just as travelers in the village’s earlier days did.

“To think that 80 years ago people were doing the same thing they’re doing today is really, really something,” Stone said.

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This article was written by Nolan Russell