The First State Heritage Park Adventure Historian Treasure
Hunt
Calling all adventure historians! Are you ready to undertake a
journey of discovery? The First State Heritage Park at Dover’s
brand new geocache has an adventure waiting for you. The
coordinates posted here will lead you to your first location. Then
follow the clues and travel through time in Dover’s historic
district. There will be a reward waiting for you at the end. Be
sure to print this page and take a pencil and paper with you.
Please note: Due to the hours of operation of the First State
Heritage Park sites, you will need to complete this cache between
the hours of 9:00-4:30, Tuesday through Sunday.
The final cache is located on private property, but you have
permission to search there. The cache is sponsored by, and placed
with the permission of, the First State Heritage Park at Dover and
its sister sites.
We've had a couple questions about the final cache location, so
let me reiterate, yes, you are allowed to search there! The
property belongs to the cache owner. I've added a little hint to
help you if you think you've found the wrong place.
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Follow the first coordinates to the most historic place in
Dover. This site was once a bustling tavern that gave Delaware its
claim to fame. Imagine what this area must have looked like over
two hundred and fifty years ago when the tavern was a popular
meeting place. The Green was only an open public square then, a
busy, exciting place where politicians discussed business,
tradesmen sold their wares, and soldiers marched. The tavern would
have stretched all the way down the block and been surrounded by
kitchens and cookhouses, stables and servant’s quarters.
In early December 1787, delegates from across Delaware met in
the Golden Fleece Tavern to decide what to do about the
newly-written Constitution. After four days of tireless debate they
unanimously agreed to ratify it. Because Delaware was the first
state to make that decision, it became the first state in the
Union, as we are known to this day.
To find the coordinates to your next stop, follow these
instructions: Find the plaque that commemorates the
Constitution and shows the signatures of the delegates. Take a look
at the plaque and fill in the blank in the following sentence:
"The Constitution was ratified here on December __, 1787."
Now count the number of signatures listed on the plaque. These
are the names of the men who ratified the Constitution. Subtract
your answer for the last step from the number of signatures. Add 1.
This will give you A (a two-digit number).
Take the last two digits of the year the plaque was erected.
Subtract 21. This will give you B (also a two-digit number).
Use these numbers to fill in the blanks in the
coordinates:
N 39 09.4A
W 075 31.3B
STOP TWO
Once you arrive at your second stop and find your clue, follow
these instructions to step three:
One digit appears more than once in the date the painting was
published. Add together these digits (for example, if the date was
1922, 2 + 2 = 4). The answer will give you C and D.
N 39 09.C5D
W 075 31.651
STOP THREE
Once you arrive at your third stop and find your clue, follow
these instructions to find your final cache!
Add together the second half of the date on the bell and the
number of letters in the name written on the bell (for example, if
the date was 1823 and there were 15 letters, you would add together
23 + 15). The first digit of this new number is E. Now take the
second digit of the new number and multiply it by 5. This is F.
N 39 09.F77
W 075 31.5E8
Happy hunting!