CSRA FTF Series #11 - Don't Touch! Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Yohola: The geocache owner has not responded to issues regarding this geocache, so the listing has fallen into archival status.

Please note that if geocaches are archived by a reviewer or HQ for lack of maintenance, they are not eligible for un-archival.

If the owner hasn't done so already, please pick up this game piece and any remaining bits as soon as possible.

This, and the surrounding area is now acceptable for new placements that are inline with the current guidelines.

Yohola
Community Volunteer Reviewer - Georgia

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Hidden : 5/30/2009
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:


Actually, please DO TOUCH the cache, but DON'T TOUCH the pillar!

This is number eleven in the CSRA FTF Series started by scgene in December of 2008. Here's the big idea...

The First To Find series is a unique project designed to motivate those cachers who are quick enough to snag an FTF to hide their own FTF geocache. Whoever is the FTF at a FTF cache is encouraged to keep the series moving forward by hiding the next cache in the FTF series, numbering the cache accordingly. If you are FTF, please do your part to expedite this series' growth! All of you FTF hounds know who you are! If, however, you are FTF and are unable or unwilling to continue this series, please make it clear in your online log that you are passing on the option to the next finder. There is no obligation to participate! Hope you have fun with it!

The famous "Haunted Pillar" of Augusta, Georgia...
There are many legends that surround the origin of the pillar and how it came to be cursed. Some say that the pillar was once a whipping post for slaves. Some say that it was a pillar on an old slave market. Most seem to believe that the ghosts of the dead slaves will haunt you if you touch the pillar, and that the pillar can never be removed or destroyed. It is actually a pillar that was part of the old Lower Market which stood in the middle of Broad Street. The local legend is a black preacher, upset that local authorities prohibited him from preaching at the market, placed a curse on the actual pillar, which stood directly behind where he was trying to preach. Shortly thereafter, in 1878, a rare cyclone struck and leveled the entire market excluding the pillar. A year later when construction on a new market began, a local grocer bought the pillar for $50 and moved it to the corner of 5th and Broad. The tow men moving the pillar were struck by lighting."

It's a fun legend, but there really isn't much to substantiate it. The second story above got the origin correct: the pillar once was part of a farmer's market that stood at Broad and Fifth from 1830 until February 7, 1878 when a rare winter tornado destroyed it. In 1935, an automobile struck the pillar and reduced it to a pile of brick and cement. The driver was unhurt and the pillar was rebuilt by a local market owner. On Friday the 13th, 1958, the column was toppled by an oversized bale of cotton on a passing truck. The driver was not injured, but the column was moved eight feet back from the curb to protect it from further mishaps.

As for the preacher's curse, nobody knows whether that really happened or not, and, as with all legends, nobody ever will. But the pillar lives on to frighten schoolchildren to this day.

Congratulations to kaboyd for being FTF and a new FTF Series Cache Owner!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Cyrnfr qvfcbfr bs nal genfu va gur nccebcevngr erprcgnpyr.

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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