Osceola Schoolhouse Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

benandjayme: This cache had a good run, but it's time to let it go since we now live much farther away and it's tough for us to maintain when it goes missing.

We originally placed this cache in 2012 because at that time there were no caches available for page 837 of the King County Thomas Guide Challenge. Page 837 was actually excluded from the challenge requirements for several years, but lots of folks still seemed to enjoy coming here to fill in the page even though it wasn't required.

Back in 2012, we drove up and down the few roads in King County on that Thomas Guide page looking for viable options until eventually we discovered this cool historic spot. We were able to connect with the non-profit theater group who had taken over ownership of the building. We even got a peek inside when we met to get their permission to place the cache.

It appears that theater group is now defunct. We can't find any info regarding who has taken over ownership of the building but we did find this more recent recollection about attending school in the building. In other news, there's also been another option for Thomas Guide page 837 for the past few years.

Many thanks to the 174 cachers who stopped by and found this cache over the years. We hope you enoyed it and learned something new about the local history!

More
Hidden : 6/6/2012
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Come discover a piece of 19th century plateau history and get a quick smiley! Cache is placed with the permission of the property's non-profit owners. At the property owner's request and out of respect for the neighbors, please seek this cache only during daylight hours!

The building at the posted coordinates was originally built in the mid-1890s as a one room schoolhouse to serve the rural farming community around Osceola. It served grades 1-8 from the time of its construction until the completion of the new school house - the building directly north of the posted coordinates which is now a private residence - around 1915. The old schoolhouse was moved from its original site on the corner of 220th Avenue SE and 456th Street SE to the southeast corner of the school grounds around 1913 to make way for the construction of a new and larger school building. After construction of the new building, the old school was unused for several years.

The ladies of Osceola formed the Help-One-Another Club (later known as the Osceola Community Club) in 1919. After meeting in their homes for about one year, they began to rent the old school building. When the Osceola School was consolidated with the Enumclaw Public Schools in 1935, the ladies of the Osceola Community Club decided to buy the old structure for a meeting hall.

The Osceola Community Club eventually decided to donate the building to a non-profit organization that would agree to keep its character intact. After evaluating all the proposals they received, the club selected the Plateau Community Players, a long-standing local theater group, to take over ownership of the building. Today, the Players use the building to rehearse for the shows that they continue to put on each year. They also continue to collect oral and written history about the building and area as they work to keep its historic character intact.

Although the interior is not generally open to the public, inside you'd find a chalkboard still on the wall, a few original desks still in the corner, and early 1900s era appliances still in use in the kitchen. A walk around the classroom is enough to leave you with the sound of a teacher's lessons or children's laughter echoing in your ears. You can get a glimpse of the interior here.

In 2009, King County selected this area as one of nine "Historic and Scenic Corridors" as part of an effort to preserve and highlight the county's transportation history. If you're interested in learning more about the history of this area, the county has created a 7.2-mile driving tour with mile-by-mile descriptions of historical sites that is roughly centered around the schoolhouse. A brief narrative of the area's history from the 1850s through the 1930s is also available.

The cache itself is nothing special; it's just intended to share this historic place with our fellow cachers. It should be a very quick find for most cachers, but if you need more help the hint is pretty much a spoiler. Good luck!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

FJ pbeare bs ohvyqvat.

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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