THE BROWNSVILLE YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

SVC: This cache has run its course and since it hasn't been found in over a year I'm opening the area up for new caches. Thanks to all that have found it. Geolittler will be cleared next time I'm in the area. If someone wants a free container go grab it and let me know so I don't go waste my time looking for it. Also...if anyone wants to use any of the info on this cache page for future caches please feel free.

look for new caches by SVC coming soon

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Hidden : 7/1/2007
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Well maybe you knew about some of these but...

I'm guessing you won't know about them all.

We never got a chance to do TEAM COPYCAT'S "Historical Brownsville - Tour #1 (Photo Cache)" and it really was a neat idea. So after some research and a few test runs we've put together a different Brownsville tour. But this one is not a copycat (pun intended) of the original. This tour will take you to 4 virtual locations where you will gather information to solve the location of the 5th and final stage. You can do them in any order but if you follow the order we give, you will not need to backtrack that much. We hope you enjoy this trip and maybe you'll take some new knowledge home as a souvenir. Also while in town, check out the really well know historical sites like Nemacolin Castle, Flatiron Building or St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church. Also, please be respectful at stages 1-3 (2 and 3 are in a neighborhood). We tried to make this a family friendly cache and for cachers of all skill and physical levels. So good luck and enjoy your tour of a really neat and tragic town. All parking coords are below. Take some photos and post'em (but none that give away any anwsers). The coords up top will take you to stage 1.

FINAL: 40º00.780N 079º5A.CBD

STAGE 1: THE FOUNDER OF BROWNSVILLE/WASHINGTON'S COUSINS
40º 01.418N 079º 52.781
The first stage will take you to the Christ Episcopal Church on Church ST. The Church was organized in 1796 but the current building was built in 1859. In the church yard you will find the grave of one Thomas Brown, founder of Brownsville. Beside his grave to your left are John H and Archibald Washington, cousins of George Washington. To fill in the letter A find the grave of Thomas Brown and look for the inscription at the bottom of the stone from when it was restored. There is a date. Take the last digit of the date it was restored and place that in for A. While your on Church St, go check out the view from St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church. Get back in your car and drive to stages 2 and 3.

STAGE 2: THE BLACK HORSE TAVERN
40º 01.329N 079º 52.993W
Stage 2 starts at a famous place on the corner of 2nd and Front. No it's not Nemacolin Castle, it's the site next to it that once was the Black Horse Tavern. Today a house stands on the lot but in 1791 it was the meeting house for the Whiskey Rebels. This is a private home and there is no need to trespass. To find the number for B just walk down the road and count how many lights are next to the stairs leading up from the sidewalk to the yard. Again, do not go on the lawn or up to the house. It is private property.

STAGE 3: PHILANDER KNOX
40º 01.280N 079º 52.912W
Stage 3 will take you to a blue Pennsylvania Historical marker in front of the home of Philander Knox. Mr. Knox was Attorney~General in 1901 and Secretary of State under President Taft from 1904 to 1909. Once you find the sign look for the last set of numbers on the sign and substitute the 3rd number in for C. The nice thing about stages 2 and 3 is that you can park and walk to both on a nice sidewalk on Front St.

STAGE 4: THE QUAKER GRAVEYARD
40º 01.137N 079º 53.361W
Stage 4 will take you to a little know but important spot in the history of Brownsville, The Quaker Graveyard. Located on Cadwallader St, there is an apartment complex that once was the site of Prospect Street school and before that the Meeting House of the Bridgeport Quakers (aka Society of Friends). Beside the apartment complex is a paved/gravel lot. Underneath the asphalt is a graveyard of the founding Quakers. When Cadwallader first purchased the land that later became Bridgeport, he originally named his parcel of land “Peace,” a name that reflected the pacifist views of the Society of Friends. Nearly every early settler of Bridgeport was a Quaker.

The Bridgeport Quakers built their first “meeting house,” or house of worship, on the spot where the Prospect Street school later stood. Adjacent to that meeting house, just south of the building, the Quakers also created the town’s first burying ground. Most Quakers do not believe in the use of tombstones, and the graves in that first cemetery were unmarked. Since most, if not all, of the earliest settlers of Bridgeport were Quakers, most of them were buried in that cemetery that lay between Prospect and Cadwallader streets.

In later centuries, on the same site where the Quaker meeting house had once stood, several buildings were built in succession, including Bridgeport High School (which burned down in 1908), Prospect Street school (which replaced it and was torn down in recent years), and now the Brownsville Apartments building. But what became of the cemetery?

It is very likely that the bodies of most of Bridgeport’s original Quaker settlers are still there. There is no reason to believe that the bodies that were buried next to the meeting house were ever removed. In fact, sometime around the late 1950's, the Brownsville School District, which operated Prospect Street elementary school at the time, wrote a letter to the regional governing body of the Society of Friends (because Brownsville no longer had an active Quaker “meeting” in town by then). The letter requested the Society’s permission to lay asphalt over the old cemetery in order for the students at the adjacent Prospect Street school to have a hard-surfaced playground

The officials said that in their opinion, the Friends who were buried there many years ago would probably have preferred to have a playground full of laughing children above them rather than the thick tangle of briars and brambles that had overgrown the graveyard. With the blessing of the Society of Friends, the cemetery was paved.

To get the anwser for D go to the coords above and look for a sign in front of the building. Once there look for the line that starts with TDD. The first number on the line will fill in the missing coord. Afterwards hop back in your car and drive to the final stage. See below for the coords to the actual graveyard of the Quakers.

Stage 5: THE FINAL LOCATION
40º00.780N 079º5A.CBD
The final stage is a short drive down Cemetery St. Parking location is below. This will take you to, (guess what), a cemetery. I'll leave you to to pick up the history of the cemetery once you arrive. The cache is a somewhat large lock & lock located outside the graveyard in the woods. It's an easy hike to the spot and should be an easy find. There is room for small trades and a logbook to sign. Please rehide just as you found it.

We've hope you enjoy your tour of a lesser know Brownsville and visit back to see the sites. An FYI for those that would like to return. Nemacolin Castle holds ghost walks during October and Christmas tours during the holdiay month. See the website below for times and admission prices. It's a really neat place that all should see.

http://www.nemacolincastle.org

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Fgntr 1- evtug fvqr bs gur przrgrel whfg nf lbh jnyx va. Fgntr 2- fgnl ba gur fvqrjnyx naq whfg ybbx Fgntr 3. Oyhr Cn Uvfgbevpny Znexre. Vg vf n qngr bs qrngu Fgntr 4- Fvta fnlf vg nyy. Fgntr 5- Ynetr gerr va gur ebbgf.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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