Knights, Generals, and Keydets Traditional Cache

Rockbridge County is home to three four-year colleges - Washington & Lee University, Virginia Military Institute, and Southern Virginia University. It's hard to envision three more distinct institutions!

Washington & Lee University in Lexington is one of the nation's most storied and respected liberal arts colleges. Founded in 1749 as Augusta Academy, in 1776 the school was renamed Liberty Hall. In 1796, upon receiving an endowment of $20,000 in James River Canal stock from George Washington, the school was renamed Washington Academy, and became Washington College soon after. In 1865, Robert E. Lee was named president of the college. During the last five years of his life (1865-1870), General Lee established the law school and instituted the first college courses in business and journalism in the United States. Upon his death in 1870, the trustee's renamed the college Washington & Lee University.

Virginia Military Institute traces its origins to the establishment of an arsenal in Lexington in 1816. In 1839, a group of local citizens persuaded the Commonwealth of Virginia to establish a military college to replace the arsenal's militia guard, and the Virginia Military Institute was founded as the nation's first state military college. A four-year engineering and liberal arts college, VMI has a long tradition of educating young men (and since 1997, young women) for lives of service and distinction. Its foremost graduate, George C. Marshall, helped lead the nation to victory in World War II as Army chief of staff, and after the war as secretary of state authored the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe.

Southern Virginia University, in Buena Vista, traces its roots to the Home School for Girls in Bowling Green, Virginia. Later renamed Bowling Green Female Seminary, in 1900 the school moved to its present-day location and changed its name to Southern Seminary. A junior college was established in the early 1920s, with high school instruction ending in 1961, becoming Southern Seminary Junior College. In the early 1990s, the name was changed to Southern Virginia College, and shortly thereafter became associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2001, the college became Southern Virginia University and is now a 4-year institution.

The cache is a micro container hidden on the grounds of Southern Virginia University. The cache is named for the mascots of the three colleges - the Knights of SVU, the Generals of W&L, and the Keydets of VMI.

This cache is part of a series. The Gems of Rockbridge Geocaching Trail has been developed as part of an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant to enhance the gateway communities along the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway. The grant funds projects that promote sustainable tourism and enhance the local community while protecting the area's natural beauty and cultural heritage.

The Geocaching Trail consists of 10 strategically placed caches highlighting the natural beauty and cultural heritage of Rockbridge County. The first 200 geocachers who complete the trail will receive a commemorative coin featuring the Gems of Rockbridge Geocaching Trail on one side and the 75th Anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway on the other side.