Mineral Bluff Depot Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Hicita: 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.

Hicita
Community Volunteer Reviewer - Georgia

More
Hidden : 7/17/2011
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:


Mineral Bluff Depot
Mineral Bluff, GA Depot
Image source: www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gafanni2/mbluff.htm


The Mineral Bluff Depot, built in 1887 by the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. It is the only surviving Marietta and North Georgia depot. Others along the line, such as Blue Ridge (1905), Ellijay (1912), Woodstock (1912) and Jasper (1905) were built later as replacements to the originals by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. The depot was built by Robert Lee Baugh and John W. Baugh using brick construction with no steel framing. For almost 75 years the depot serviced passengers and freight was shipped to the depot through 1990.

The history of the rail line starts in 1854 as the Ellijay Railroad when a route was mapped out from Marietta through Canton, Ball Ground, Jasper, Ellijay and on to the Ocoee River northwest of Blue Ridge in Ducktown, Tennessee. In 1859 the name was changed to the Marietta, Canton and Ellijay Railroad. Civil War stalled all plans for the railroad and it wasn't until 1874 that work started under the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad.

Service first began in 1879 with the completion of the line to Canton. Over the following 8 years service proceeded north through Jasper (1883), Ellijay (1884), Blue Ridge (1886), Mineral Bluff (1886) and finally to Murphy, NC (1887). The original plan was to go from Blue Ridge along the Toccoa river to McCayesville, Copperhill and Ducktown but in the 1880s due to high costs General Phillips, the leading advocate for the railroad, approached northern counties for investment. Cherokee County, NC invested so the route was changed to take the line to Murphy, NC. Only because of this change does the Mineral Bluff depot exist today.

In 1886, as the line was approaching Murphy, the owners of the Marietta and North Georgia started building the Knoxville Southern line south out of Knoxville and up along the Hiawassee Gorge to meet in with the Marietta and North Georgia in Murphy. Due to land acquisition issues they were unable to make the connection. Instead, the Marietta and North Georgia started a new line following the original Ellijay Railroad route to meet with the Knoxville Southern at the state line (Copperhill, TN / McCayesville, GA). In 1890 the line was completed and the Knoxville Southern was consolidated into the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad.

In 1891 the Marietta and North Georgia entered receivership and was sold in 1896 to the Atlanta, Knoxville and Northern Railway which in turn sold the line to the Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Railroad in 1902. In 1983 CSX bough the L&N and they continued using the complete line until 1987 at which point the line was broken up with CSX keeping the Tennessee part of the line and the newly formed Georgia Northeastern (GNRR) acquiring/leasing the line between Marietta and Ellijay. This left the line north of Ellijay unused but still under the ownership of CSX. In the mid-1990s, concerned that CSX would remove the line, the Georgia Department of Transportation purchased the line north of Ellijay including the short branch ending in Mineral Bluff. Today the line from Marietta to Blue Ridge is used for limited freight runs and the line from Blue Ridge to McCayesville is used by the successful Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. The spur off to Mineral Bluff north of the Toccoa river has fallen into disrepair while the section south of the river is occasionally used for railcar storage. The original mainline beyond Mineral Bluff to Murphy was torn up around 1980 and all that remains are a few crossbucks at some of the roads that crossed the line.

Note: the cache is not located on the building nor is it on or under the freight car.

References:

The News Observer, "Mineral Bluff Depot earns spot in national registry", Cynthia Maude, 3/30/2007,
http://www.thenewsobserver.com/articles/2007/03/30/features/feature01.prt

RailGa.com, "Georgia Northeastern Railroad", Steve Storey,
http://www.railga.com/gne.html

Georgia Northeastern Railroad, "Route History",
http://www.gnrr.com/history.html

Roadside Georgia, "Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad", Golden Ink, 8/2/2005,
http://roadsidegeorgia.com/site/brsr.html

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ybbx sbe gur J. [Frira srrg sebz svsgl X]

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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