Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre
Brentsville served as the 4th Prince William County seat from 1820
to 1894 when the county seat was moved to Manassas. This little
spot has a fair amount of history itself, including Civil War
actions. The Brentsville Courthouse is Prince William County's
oldest surviving courthouse. It recently underwent major
renovations and is well worth the visit to see how how it looked so
many years ago. Unfortunately, it is not open during the winter
except on special occasions. Besides the courthouse, the Centre is
also home to a restored union church where couples are invited to
hold their wedding ceremonies, an old one room schoolhouse, a
historic jail, a log cabin currently being renovated and what
little remains of an old tavern.
The Centre has been going through lots of major renovations over
the past few years and is looking better every year. I placed this
cache here to help bring it to the attention of more people. I
wanted to bring people into the Courthouse, but due to the limited
amount of time the doors are open, I had to use clues on the
outside. Looking through the windows is one thing, but actually
going inside gives you a much better feel for how it was. More
information regarding the Centre can be found at http://www.brentsville.org.
Clues
To locate the cache use these clues:
- Find the Historical Commission's plaque attached to the outside
of the courthouse. Count the number of words on the plaque and use
that number for A.
- Look up at the architect's plaque, also attached to the outside
of the courthouse. The architect's name was William Claytor, but
his last name was misspelled as Claytors. The extra "s" was filled
in, but during renovations they removed the filler. If you are
observant, you will notice another word is misspelled, but in this
case it's missing a letter (it's obvious once you see it). Find the
missing letter in the key below and use it for B.
- A=34 E=52 I=00 O=67 U=23
- Walk South to the roadside historical marker for Brentsville.
What year was the land confiscated from Robert Bristow? Use the
fourth digit for C.
- What year was the jail built? Add the second and third digits
of the year to get D
The coordinates for the cache are N38° 41.AB W077°
29.CD
The cache is located off the Centre's Nature Trail. There is a
map of the trail with descriptions of the trail marker areas
available in the box at N38° 41.383 W077° 29.979 in the parking
lot. If you use one of the trail maps, please return it when
finished.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.
Original contents: Silly Putty, castles & palaces calendar,
deck of magic cards, toy car, Dopey TB and FTF gold coin
First FTF congratulations to eml and wv1girl!
My thanks go to the Site Manager for permission to
place this cache at the Centre.