Skip to content

Old Farmington Road Traditional Cache

Hidden : 9/14/2011
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

Old Farmington Road cache is a relatively easy cache located near downtown Farmington, MI. There is parking at a public block a few short blocks away. There is a crosswalk across Shiawassee Road / Farmington Road in the middle of the road as well as at the light where they join up. Coordinates used in the averaging were typically in the 15m error range


You are expected to physically sign the log sheet in order to log your find on-line.

This is a visit to another piece of Farmington History, the old Farmington Road. The road and bridge were rerouted further east along Shiawassee Road in 1968-69 as the Twin Valley Subdivision was developed. Farmington Road originally connected McGee Hill to the north and Shiawassee Hill to the south.


Shiawassee Hill was also nicknamed Piety Hill for the churches that were built in the vicinity. The Farmington Baptist or First Baptist Church was built in 1861 on the west end. The original structure is still attached to a larger church building. At the east end of the ridge was the Methodist church. It was built in 1844. It burned down in 1920. It was rebuilt just south down Warner along Grand River. The Universalist church was built in 1853, also down Warner towards Grand River, in what is now the parking lot for the United Methodist church. In 1967 the Universalist-Unitarian church building was moved to its new location on Halsted Road. (source: Farmington: A Pictorial History by Lee S. Peel).


The current United Methodist church building was designed by Wells D. Butterfield and his daughter Emily. Wells was also the first mayor of the city of Farmington. Emily was Michigan's first licensed female architect. They received the old church property in payment for their services. Wells built his house on that property and Emily built her house next to his. These houses are at the far north end of Warner Street on the east side of the road. (source: Heritage Homes of Farmington by Ruth Roth Moehlman)


The old Farmington Road is blocked to car traffic at the south end. Foot traffic can walk around the barrier onto the old road. The old road ends at the south end of the bridge with a public access walking path off the north end that emerges onto Twin Valley Court.


If you are interested in benchmarks you can find a U.S. Army Corp of Engineers survey mark disk on the bridge. A waymark entry for this can be found at: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMB834_US_Army_Corps_of_Engineers_Survey_Mark_F6.


There is limited street parking near the south end of the old road. The closest public parking is included as a waypoint (the United Methodist Church parking lot.)


The cache is a camo painted rectanglular Lock & Lock container with a log book.  There should be a pencil in the cache but you may want to your own pencil or pen.  Please be sure to restore it to the hiding place in a similar condition.


There not be much street light reaching this area so you will need a flashlight if you search for this at night. This cache is accessible with some snow on the ground. It might not be if there has been a heavy amount of snow that stayed.


FTF: june17
STF: The Frito Bandito

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Vg vf whfg n srj srrg sebz gur ebnq.

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)