 The Poor House-To Each His Stone; The Prequel
A cache by Lucky46 Hidden: 10/1/2008
Size:  (Small) Difficulty:  Terrain:  (1 is easiest, 5 is hardest)
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The hunt will start at the beginning, the Poor House. I was
inspired to do this one by the photo posted on my cache "To Each
His Stone" (GC1FDBD) by cacher "HighlandPiper". Many thanks to
them. It occurred to me that everyone should see this Gothic
facility for themselves, up close and personal. The thought that
kept running through my mind while there was "Abandon all hope, ye
who enter here"! Please log your thoughts as well.
The 1st stage is most easily accessed by taking Millenium Drive
around behind the county mental health facility, where you will
find a date that will help you with the final coords. The final
stage will be nearby.
At the final you will find a whole new meaning for the phrase;
"You're just another number"! When researching for the "To Each His
Stone" cache I was informed that ledgers and books still exist that
can identify these people. I know you will show respect for those
poor souls that never got any in life. Please DO NOT cache this
site after dusk!
Once you attain the date at the 1st stage please regard the 4
numbers in the date as: A B C D and transcribe them into the
following coords:
N 4 2` 4 D. A-1 A+2 C-3
W 0 7 7` 4 7. B-5 C-4 D-1
There is some atmosphere to be had in these places. Soak it up,
and thanks for stopping by. A deuce for the FTF. BYOP.
Many thanks go out to Slapphappe for providing me the means to
gather a little more history about this sad old place. The
following is an exerpt from the Library of Princeton University
annual report of the new York State Board of Charities for the year
1903:
LIVINGSTON COUNTY HOUSE, Located near Geneseo, is constructed of
brick three stories in height, in size 108 by 53 feet, including
two wings. Attached is a farm of 118 acres, yielding a revenue of
$2,000.00. The basements are occupied by male lunatics to a limited
extent. The number of inmates was seventy-five, the sexes equally
divided; of these forty were of foreign birth, thirty-five native
born. Twenty-five were children, under sixteen years of age. The
sexes are kept separate at all times. They are under two keepers, a
male and female. Five or six paupers are sometimes placed in one
room. The rooms are warmed by stoves and a furnace, no means of
ventilation are furnished. The rooms and wards number seventy-five.
The average number of inmates is 107, supported at a weekly expense
of seventy-four and a half cents, inclusive of the products of the
farm. The stronger males labor on the farm and the women about the
house. Once during the past year the house has been inspected by
the supervisors. It is supplied with Bibles, but there are no
regular arrangements for religious services or instruction. A
teacher is employed in the house nine or ten months of the year, to
instruct the children in the common English branches. The keeper
purchases supplies and furnishes the house, himself imposing rules
regulating the government and system of diet. The superintendents
bind out the children on their arrival at suitable ages. The fare
of paupers consists of plain wholesome food. A physician is
employed by the year who visits the house whenever called. He is
paid a salary of eighty dollars per annum. No facilities exist for
bathing. During the past year there have occurred four births and
seventeen deaths. The keeper reports that heretofore illicit
intercourse between the sexes has to some extent existed. There is
no pest house, but during the past year the paupers have suffered
from no pestilential or contagious diseases. Fourteen of the
inmates are lunatics, five males and nine females. Of these all are
paupers. Five have been admitted within the year. The males are
under the general care of the keeper, the females have an especial
female attendant. A single one is confined in a cell. This is the
only means of restraint in use, except in extreme cases, when
resort is had to handcuffs. Three during the year have been
considerably improved. The insane receive no particular medical
attendance, nor is the house so constructed as to allow a proper
classification of the patients. The power of discharge is exercised
alone by the superintendents. Four of those, now inmates of this
house, have spent some time at the State Asylum, and have been
discharged as cases of hopeless lunacy. Three of the paupers are
idiots, two males and one female, one under ten years. There is one
deaf and dumb and two blind. Lunatics sometimes escape but have
always been recovered. The keeper reports three-quarters of the
paupers as brought here by intemperate habits. The house has been
constructed six years, and is much better than an average of the
buildings used for this purpose. The rooms are built around and
open upon ranges or galleries, passing round an open court or hall,
which aids materially in the ventilation of the building.
If you are interested you may check out Slapphappe's blog here:
http://slapphappe.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/adventures-in-geocaching-livingston-county-house-geneseo-new-york/
FTF: Congratulations to HowieandJan, and especially to
Dylan.
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2 user(s) watching this cache.
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