This cache is located near the former grade of the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad, in the small village of Robinson. The cache is not at the posted location. To locate the final, solve the puzzle below. The cache is located on land owned by Robinson Township, Please be respectful and No night caching.
Site of the former Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Station at Robinson
The small village of Robinson, or Robinsonville, began in 1870 with the coming of the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad. In anticipation for the railroad, two Chicago businessmen, Galen Eastman and Israel Harris, purchased large tracts of land in what would soon be the village. The two men sold the C&MLS a right-of-way and land for railroad buildings. With the railroad came settlers and more businesses. Robinson's first businesses included a shingle mill, hotel, and a general store. Eastman and Harris platted the village in 1871, and the next year they built a sawmill.
Robinson hit it's peak in 1875 with a population of 200, two sawmills, two shingle mills, a barrel factory, two general stores, a church, and a school. Nearly half of Robinson Township's population was believed to be employed by the village. Unluckily for the residents, the prosperity did not last long. In 1876, the railroad went bankrupt, and one of the sawmills burned to the ground. With the coming demise, more than half of the population left by 1877. The railroad was abandoned and torn up in 1881 and the the village fizzled out.
Robinson Village Plat, 1876. Highlighted in yellow is the Robinson Depot grounds and other C&MLS Facilities such as a water tower and lumber yard. Highlighted in blue is the track side land reserved for railroad usage.
The Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore
The Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad was chartered in 1869 and built north from New Buffalo to St. Joseph, opening on February 1st, 1870. The line was extended to Grand Junction in northern Van Buren County on February 28th, 1871, and through Waverly (outside Holland) to Nunica by June 30th, 1871. At Nunica, the line connected with the track that had been built in 1870 from Muskegon to Nunica. The C&MLS was in competition with the Michigan Lake Shore Railroad, already operating a line between Allegan, through Holland to Muskegon by 1870. In 1876 the C&MLS went into receivership and reorganized as the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad. In 1881 the C&WM , along with three other lines, including the Grand Haven Railroad (formerly the Michigan Lake Shore) reorganized as the Chicago & West Michigan Railway. This left the C&WM Ry with two lines between Holland and Muskegon, The C&MLS line was superfluous and Waverly to Fruitport was abandoned by the end of 1881. The abandonment was very secretive, and spawned a few law suits from lumber companies that the line had served. On a Sunday in 1881, a C&MLS locomotive ran from Fruitport to Waverly, picking up tracks and ties. This left many small towns along the line in economical shock, and left them to be abandoned.
To locate the cache, solve this simple puzzle based on information in the cache description.
N42° 59.ABC W086° 04.DEF
- A = Last digit in the year that Robinson was plotted as a village.
- B = Number of Sawmills plus the number of General Stores at Robinson in 1875.
- C = Last digit in the year that the C&MLS was chartered.
- D = Third digit in the year that Robinson hit it's peak.
- E = Number of General Stores plus the number of Shingle Mills at Robinson in 1875.
- F = Last digit in the year that the C&MLS went into receivership, Minus two.
Sources:
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