This is a three-stage multi-cache. Stages 1 requires you to observe and solve a puzzle (see below). Stage 2 is a physical object that will provide instructions on how to find stage 3. Stage three contains the log. You must find & sign the log in stage 3 to claim this cache. All stages are within easy walking distance of the initial coordinates.
Please note the cache is available only during certain hours, and can not be completed at night.
This block of Main Street holds a number of Salem’s most historic buildings. The cache coordinates will lead you to the Post House, built in 1812 by Jacob Stevens. It is the oldest standing building in downtown Salem. It served not only as a family home, but as an early clearing house and way station for mail. After an official post office was established, the building has been used as a millinery shop, and a restaurant, before its purchase by the neighboring church.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, directly east, was originally built in 1911. This was the second building occupied by a congregation first established in 1867. St. Paul’s has expanded to add a parish house, and additional meeting/educational space. The Post House was acquired in 1951, and has been used as the church office since.
Across the street to the north is Salem Presbyterian Church. This congregation was organized in 1831, and originally met at a building on Academy Street. This church was dedicated in August of 1852, with wings added in 1914 and 1958. This church's distinctive steeple appears in many paintings and photos of the Salem area, from pre-Civil War days onward.
To the west is Younger Park, and the Salem Library. This small park area was first established in 1935, named after and built on the former home site of William T. Younger, Salem’s longest-serving mayor. Soon thereafter a small (30x13 ft) building was constructed as a depression-era WPA project, containing bathroom facilities and a small single-room “tourist information room.” The Salem Women’s Club, led by Mrs. Geneva Reed Phinney, convinced the City Council to use allow the building to be used as a public library, allocating $150 in their January 1937 meeting. The library opened its doors a month later, with a few hundred donated and purchased books. Phinney and a handful of volunteers managed the collection, and worked to raise funds for book purchases and maintenance. A single room addition was built two years later. It was not until 1947 that the city officially named Mrs. Phinney as supervising librarian, a role in which she served until retiring in 1960. A decade later, a large construction project built the core of the current library facility. A later expansion project more than doubled the size of the building.
For Stage 1 -- travel to the published coordinates, which will put you at the Post House. Determine the following values:
- A = number of spindles on the porch railing, facing street, left of the steps.
- B = number of screws fastening the "Salem Virginia Landmark" plaque
- C = number of distinct digits on the sign to the right of the door
- D = number of circular columns
- E = number of punctuation characters on signs under porch roof
- F = number of panes of glass on a light fixture
Now, plug those numbers into the following template:
N 37° 17.ABC W 080° 03.DEF
These coordinates will lead you to stage 2.