Riverton Beetle Traditional Cache
Hidden : 5/15/2011
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:

Riverton Beetle--please a bring a pen or pencil and tweezers!

Most locals are unaware that sleepy, little Riverton was once home to one of the largest plant nurseries on the East Coast. The Henry A. Dreer Company operated in Riverton from 1868 to 1944. Although Dreer had locations in 11 countries, the Riverton location was quite an operation. At its largest, it covered 295 acres, had 14 greenhouses, and employed 250 workers. Dreer specialized in bedding plants, palms, ferns, roses and hybrid water liles. Dreer’s Nursery was known for their beautiful gardens and people came from around the world for their flower shows and to study horticulture. Dreer’s covered the area bordered by the Delaware River, Fulton Street, the Pompeston Creek and Broad Street. They also had a water lily garden in the Pompeston Creek, alongside Riverton Memorial Park.

What really put Riverton on the map is that the Japanese beetle first came into the United States through Dreer’s Nursery, and the first beetles were seen in August of 1916. Despite the efforts of the nursery staff, the Federal Bureau of Entomology, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the N.J. State Legislature, and the Federal Horticultural Board, the beetle spread from Riverton to surrounding areas. By 1919-1920, the Japanese beetle spread to 50 square miles of New Jersey, as well as to Philadelphia, between Holmesburg and Torresdale. Almost 100 years later, the Japanese beetle has spread to 20 states, and a policy of containment and quarantine are still used to keep it from spreading further.

The area you are standing next to was used by Dreer’s Nursery as a water lily garden and you can still see earthen levees that were built to section off the creek. Unfortunately, little remains of Dreer’s since it closed in 1944. The beautiful paintings of plants, flowers and vegetables from seed catalogues and calendars are now big collector’s items. But if you know what to look for, you can still see many of the plants that were grown and developed at Dreer’s throughout Riverton including hybrid roses, kudzu, Japanese knotweed, bamboo, and wild rice. There is a short nature walk that runs along the Pompeston the length of Riverton Memorial Park.

A scratch-off lottery ticket for FTF!!

For more information and many photos and drawings, check out John McCormick’s wonderful powerpoint presentation about Dreer’s Nursery through the Historical Society of Riverton website at (visit link)

Also, interesting information about the Pompeston Creek can be found at The Pompeston Creek Watershed Association at www. pompestoncreek.org.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Anab

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)


Attributes

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