Welcome to Kent population 115K.
With my job change as of January 2013, I now work in the historic district of Kent. After surveying the cache placement in downtown, I realized no one has stepped up and done a historical cache about Kent! Well, someone needs to correct this injustice and thats where I come in. Before we get to this lovely multicache tour of Kent, I have a couple of interesting facts that I bet you did not know about Kent.
The name of the city was believed to be first used by the by the railroad while another school of thought was that Ezra Meeker first suggested the name for the town as he envisioned a hops culture in the White River Valley that would rival the county of Kent in England.
In May 1890 the citizens of the community of Kent petitioned the King County Commissioners to hold an election to incorporate and elect officers. The town had 763 residents at that time. On May 22, 1890 the town held is election and voted to incorporate 107 votes in favor to 22 votes against, thus becoming the first town outside of Seattle to incorporate in King County
Ok, enough of the history lesson, lets get on with the task at hand. Your job, should you accept the challenge of this multicache, is to visit the listed coordinates and the 5 waypoints to obtain information for the final. Along the way, you will visit some historical places in Kent. You can certainly drive to all waypoints or the really enjoy the tour and get the blood pumping, you can walk or bike the waypoints. You can do the waypoints in any order you want. I have listed them in sort of a geographical order. At the end of your journey, you will be wiser to historic Kent AND get a smiley for your efforts.
Listed Coordinates - Waypoint 1
This takes you to the present day City Hall. At the intersection of Second and Gowe, was where the original city with its bell town once stood (now a little park). At the listed coordinates, take a look at the lovely art on the wall entitled "Sword Ferns and Fiddleheads" by Nick Lyle and Jean Whitesavage. Take note of the first digit of the year of the art and make that number "A".
Waypoint 2 - First National Bank of Kent - 47 22.844 122 14.021
At the listed coordinates (corner of 1st and Gowe) you will find the First National Bank of Kent building (now a business). After Kent's first bank failed in 1896 just after being open for 6 years, M.M Morrill a local mercantile and meat market proprietor, organized the First National Bank of Kent at this location. Take a look at the beautiful mural to the left of door which is entitled "The Lily" by artist Danny Pierce. This mural captures the steamer the Lily loading cargo of hops whiled docked on the White River. Count how many men are loading hops onto the Lily and SUBTRACT 1. This is your answer for "B".
Waypoint 3 - Pacific Coast Condensed Milk Co. 47 22.905 122 14.018
The listed coordinates takes you to the corner of Meeker and 1st Ave, the site of the old Pacific Coast Condensed Milk Company. The PCCMC was founded in 1899 by E A Stuart. The PCCMC became the worldwide distributor of Carnation Condensed Milk. Their motto was "Carnation Cream, None Equal". The two story brick building has been reduced to one story and is smaller thanks to an earthquake in 1960. At the listed coordinates is whats left of the original building. While at this waypoint, take a look at the 4 digit number under the words "The Creamery" and take the second digit and make that your answer for "C".
Waypoint 4 - Saar Saw Mill - 47 22.907 122 13.232 - Location out of commission, skip.
These coordinates take you to the north side of Mill Creek Canyon. At this location you will find a monument to another "royal family" in the Kent area. The Saar Family had a saw mill at this location. Look at the monument. Take the third digit from the year noted on the monument and make that your answer for "D".
Waypoint 5 - Bereiter House - 47 23.006 122 13.461
This early 1900's American Foursquare house belonged to Ed Bereiter a successful saw mill owner. This building is designated as an official Kent landmark and currently houses the Kent Historical Museum. If you have a moment, step inside and check out the museum theres some pretty cool stuff inside. They have some wonderful exhibits that give you a good feel of what life was like in Kent in the late 1800s-early 1900s. To the right of the front door of the museum, a blue sign denotes the building is designated as a Kent landmark. Note the year the house was built and make the first digit answer to "E".
Waypoint 6 - Interurban Depot - 47 22.895 122 14.438
Across Meeker from the listed coords where the one story building on the corner of 6th and Meeker, there once stood the Interurban Depot. The depot is long gone now but it was a large two story wooden structure with a long covered porch that ran down the length of building. This building served as the waiting area, offices and a living area for train crews for the interurban line. While at the listed coordinates, take a look at the train cross guard. Count the number of red lights that you can see on YOUR side of the tracks (with the black bezels, not the ones on the gates) and make that your numer for "F".
You are now ready to find the cache. Simply go to the following to claim your smiley:
N 47 22.CF7 W 122 14.EAB
Check sum - A+B+C+D+E+F = 26
The cache is too small for items, but I will manage to stick some sort of denomination of money inside for the first finders troubles.
A BIG CONGRATS TO TOBIAS AND PETRONELLA AND 2ND 1 OF 3 FOR THE CO FTF!
Update 11/18/15 - WP 4 is out of commission. Therefore I am giving you the answer. You can skip WP4.