GCP3RK Washington Monument Quarry (Traditional Cache) in Oregon, United States created by blazerfan

This cache has been archived.

GeoCrater: I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no word from the owner in the month or more since the last reviewer note was posted. If you want to re-activate the cache during the next couple of months, please contact GeoCrater to see if that's possible. If the cache meets current guidelines, consideration will given to the circumstances surrounding the original archival.

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GCP3RK ▼

A cache by blazerfan Message this owner

Hidden : 5/29/2005

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

According to local legend a 4 ton slab of white marble was qarried from this site for the Washington Monument.

Around 1880, before the railroad came through Southern Oregon, a four-ton block of marble was cut from a quarry near Williams to be part of the Washington Monument at our nation's capital. Since there was no railroad, the slab had to be hauled by horses to the railhead in California. Somewhere between Ashland, Oregon and Redding, California the marble block split in half. The cutter, Mr. Russell, had to return to the Williams quarry to cut another block. Russell was a bit put out with the situation because the contract he held with the United States government to obtain the slab of marble had no provision for a second try; therefore, he made only a small profit from his endeavor. The monument was completed in December of 1884 with granite, limestone and marble from many states.
- Joan Momsen Josephine County: The Golden Beginnings

Anyway I guess white marble is rare in Oregon which was why this location was selected to cut a stone for the monument. The monument was originally encased in Marble quarried from Maryland, but it took so many years to to find funding that the quarry ran out of marble (you'll notice this in pictures because the monument changes color at about 50 feet). The stone cut here is not the "Memorial Stone" representing Oregon (that stone is sandstone).

The cache is located in the quarry and covered with a few nice chunks of white marble. I would think rock hounds may have fun here, but I'm not a rock hound. The Quarry road is gated and it is about a 2 mile walk in... seemed like the road forked just past the gate... take the right fork.