Be advised downtown Stuart hosts various events throughout the year which may impair your ability on certain days find a parking space, reach all the stages, and/or retrieve the Final without being spotted by muggles. Otherwise, all stages including the Final should be accessible at any time.
HISTORY OF DOWNTOWN STUART
Stuart area was first settled by non-Indians in the 1870s, predominately for pineapple farming. What is now downtown Stuart area was named Potsdam by landowner Otto Stypmann (born in Potsdam, Germany).
The Florida East Coast (FEC) Railroad arrived in 1894, including a station. It was the arrival of the railroad that prompted a name change in 1896: allegedly, railroad conductors frequently mangled the town's name into something passengers found offensive. There is debate over whom Stuart is named after, but credit is usually given to Homer Hine Stuart, Jr. who had donated land for the new railroad station.
When Martin County was created in 1925, Stuart became the county seat. It was incorporated in 1914 and is currently one of only 3 incorporated areas in Martin County (the other two being Sewalls Point and tiny Ocean Breeze Park; Palm City and Jensen Beach were incorporated many decades ago, but no longer).
According to a story I once read, the original plan was for the FEC railroad to come down Sewalls Point and cross the river at an area called Hell's Gate (N 27° 10.780 W 080° 11.800). Had that happened, Port Sewall or Port Salerno would likely have become the focal point of the area and later the county seat. However, Henry Flagler (owner of the FEC) had trouble getting the land he needed and Potsdam landowners such as Stypmann and Stuart capitalized on the situation.
Stuart's downtown area had fallen into decline by the late 1980s, but during the 1990s economic boom the area was successfully renovated and revitalized.
THE CACHE
The final stage is located in the downtown Stuart area. Please be mindful of muggles when retrieving the container and replace it out of sight.
The cache is located at N 27 1A.BCD W 080 1E.FGH
IMPORTANT: The final coordinates will put you at the corner where the cache used to be. From there, go SE to the other corner where the cache has been relocated.
Stage A - posted coordinates
The leaping animal will you find in the fountain here?
1 = shark
2 = sailfish
3 = dolphin
4 = mullet
Stage B - N 27° 11.960 W 080° 15.265
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Lyric Theatre opened as a movie theater in the 1926, but closed during the depression. The building was repeatedly sold and used for various purposes until 1987 when it finally became a full-time theatre again.
What will you find on the sidewalk here?
0 = engraved stars
1 = engraved bricks
2 = movie scenes
Stage C - N 27° 11.897 W 080° 15.195
Welcome To Stuart! This mural was painted by Maureen Fulgenzi in 2003.
What fruit is being harvested in the mural?
2 = grapefruit
3 = limes
4 = oranges
5 = pineapples
Stage D - N 27° 11.876 W 080° 15.161
Is it any wonder this intersection is named Confusion Corner? Ocean Blvd, Colorado Ave, Flagler Ave, Dixie Hwy, and the FEC railroad all cross paths here. The current traffic circle is actually a vast improvement over the original jumbled intersection that existed until the around 1990. Why do all these streets meet here? Property lines in the city's early days - over a century ago!
Find the rock with a plaque dedicated to Francis Alexander Adams.
D = last digit of the year Adams died
Stage E - N 27° 11.935 W 080° 15.200
You wont find any video games or slot machines in this arcade. The Stuart Arcade is a historic building notable for its breezeway connecting Osceola and Seminole Streets. It was the location of the original Stuart post office. There used to be a plaque/marker here about the history of the Arcade, but it was apparently removed sometime in 2017.
E = number of words above the arcade entrance + 2
Stage F - N 27° 12.087 W 80° 15.238 (dock starts at N 27° 12.045 W 080° 15.280)
Take a stroll on the Stuart Riverwalk. This boardwalk was originally built in stages during the 1990s and extended eastward circa 2015. It had to be rebuilt after major damage from Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004. It now runs from the north end of Colorado Ave in downtown, under the Roosevelt Bridge, and ends at the south end of the city marina. Concerts are performed on the Riverwalk Stage and crowds gather here to watch the annual 4th of July fireworks. The Riverwalk includes a floating dock so boaters can visit downtown. Several examples of oyster bed restoration are visible near the boardwalk at low tide.
You will see several signs along the boardwalk and on the concrete pilings for the floating pier stating "Fishing Prohibited" and "No Netting". The signs include ordinance numbers in the format ##—##(##). Pick any one of these signs. Disregard the number in parentheses, and treat the rest as a subtraction problem. Your result with be a two-digit number; use the first digit the result being F.
At the time of the latest update of this cache there were multiple relevant signs visible from the Stage F coordinates - some on the boardwalk, some on the floating concrete pier.
Continue northwest along the Riverwalk to Stage G.
Stage G - N 27° 12.150 W 080° 15.485
Coordinates for this stage will bring you to where the fishing pier crosses the Riverwalk (GPS reception is fuzzy under the bridge). Here you will find a sign about what used to be located here: a freight dock and railroad depot. You may be able to see the old wood pilings from the freight dock.
As explained by the sign, the depot burned down and the dock was destroyed by a hurricane. Both events occurred in the same year (19XY).
G = X+Y
Stage H - N 27° 12.037 W 080° 15.360
This historic building was originally the George Parks General Store and later the Stuart Feed Store. It is now the Stuart Heritage Museum. Find the plaque on the front of the building.
H = last digit of the year the store was built + 2
You are welcome to post photos in your log, but please don't spoil the answers to any of the stages and don't post any photos of the location of the final.
Congrats to mmyoyo for FTF on Thanksgiving, the same morning the cache was published.
