HONESDALE, Pa. -- It took months to create and drew thousands to Wayne County to envelop themselves in the "Paper Caves."
The final weekend for the art exhibit was last weekend in Honesdale, but the caves paid dividends for the community.
Artist Samuelle Green and her team of helpers knew this day would come. The Paper Caves exhibit at her Basin and Main gallery was coming down piece by piece.
Sunday was the final day the sculpture made up of one million pages from old books was open to the public. Big crowds turned out in Honesdale estimated at more than 1,000 sharing in the awe for a final time and neighboring businesses noticed.
"Sam Green's Paper Caves added so much value to town that we literally profited off her creative genius," said Travis Rivera, Black and Brass Coffee Co.
The coffee shop won two framed pieces of the caves at auction. The rest of the installation will be headed to two exhibits in New York City (601Artspace & Art on Paper).
Green's father spent a lot of time in the caves over the past year and a half, welcoming people from all over the map.
"The furthest someone actually drove to see it was Virginia they came up from," said Robert Green.
Throughout its more than one year on Main Street in Honesdale, the Paper Caves played host to a myriad of things, to a kid's birthday party, to a Star Trek party this past weekend. There was live music, supper clubs, New Year's parties, and even a marriage proposal.
"This is a game stuff that happened right here in Honesdale, that we got to have as a community, that enriched our community, that took us up to this level, up to this level!" Dave Harvey said.
Harvey noticed the crowds over the weekend and is convinced the caves had a lasting effect on all who experienced them as well as on Honesdale.
"It took the space and completely transformed it, then transformed our town."
While Green's taking all this to New York City, many here in her hometown are anxiously awaiting what comes in the chapter that follows the Paper Caves.