O.C.H. #15: Chase-The Stone Barn Mystery Cache
O.C.H. #15: Chase-The Stone Barn
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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This cache is part of a series of caches reflecting Oconto County History. Please respect the delicate nature of the surroundings, being careful not to damage vegetation and items that may be of historical significance. Reports of such nature will result in the archiving of these caches.
This is an on-site field solve puzzle. The container is a micro and is not found at the posted coordinates...bring your own pencil.
This stone barn is one of the last surviving all-fieldstone barns of its kind in the country. The Stone Barn Committee of the Town of Chase, formed in 2007, hopes to keep this barn as historically authentic as possible. It is on the State and National Register of Historic Places and was nominated to be on the 2009 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Places. The barn is being restored to be the centerpiece of a new park.
This barn, one of the last surviving structures of its kind, is made almost entirely of stone from local fields. The stones were handpicked by farmer Daniel Krause, the barn’s original owner and architect. He designed the structure with two large arched doorways on either end, making it more accessible to hay wagons. The stone barn was designed so you could enter through one end of the stone barn, unload the hay, then exit out the other end. The Krause family bought this property in 1870. Around 1886 they built their first big house although it and other out buildings no longer exist. There is a mystery as to why this farm was so successful when farmers were typically very poor in those days. There is more of a mystery as to why they built a fieldstone barn instead of a timber barn. Although stones were just as plentiful as lumber it was much more efficient and cheaper to build a timber barn than a stone barn. It is estimated that this barn could have taken over a year to build. A mason had to be hired, as well as crews to gather the stones from nearby fields and haul them to the barn site. Then there was the matter of lifting and laying the stones, which was no easy task, especially to the higher parts of the stone wall.
The Krause family sold the farm in 1920, and over the next few decades the property changed hands several times. Brothers Casmir and Stanley Frysh purchased it in 1954. In 1995, at the urging of the nearby Pulaski Historical Society, the Fryshes hired a construction company to see to much-needed repairs. They also began successful efforts to have the building placed on both the national and state registers of historic places. By 2004 the Frysh brothers had died, leaving the land to a niece, who later sold the barn to Mary and Harold Peterson. Upon learning of the Town of Chase’s keen interest in the structure, the Petersons sold it to the town, which became the official owner in 2007.
At the posted coordinates, you will find an engraving high on the wall of the old stone barn. Use the information on it to find the coordinates of the cache container: N44 43.ABC W088 10.DEF
A= third digit in the date
B= first digit in the date
C= number of letters in the architect's name
D= using the date, subtract the last digit from the second digit, then add the first digit
E= 3rd digit in the date
F= # of letters in the last word minus one
Permission was granted for placement of this cache by the Town of Chase Stone Barn Committee; Norb Reinhard-chairman.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
zntargvp xrlubyqre