This two stage multi cache is on the former grade of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad through Cedar Springs, starting at the site where the GR&Idepot once stood. To locate the second stage, solve the field puzzle below using information found at the posted coordinates. The grade is now part of the White Pine Trail State Park. The site of the depot is the parking and access point for the trail. The second stage is on the White Pine Trail and should be accessed from the trail. The cache replaces the original traditional cache, GC4M4P2, which has been overcome recently with hornets or bees.
GR&I Depot, Cedar Springs, MI, courtesy of RRHX
Cedar Springs:
Two years after the first settler arrived, a post office called Cedar Springs was established on February 4th, 1857 with Nicholas Hill, postmaster. The name of the settlement was derived from an abundance of both cedar trees and springs in the area. The village was platted in 1859 and recorded in 1860. The village was incorporated in 1871. Cedar Springs became a city in 1960, one hundred years after the platt was recorded.
1918 USGS Topo map showing locations of both Cedar Springs showing location of both depots.
Railroads:
Two railroads served Cedar Springs. The first to arrive, in 1868, was the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, running south to north. The second railroad to reach Cedar Springs, in 1887, was the Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon Railroad, running east-west accross the central part of the state. The two lines crossed and had an interchange just west of what is now Morley Park.
Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad
The GR&I was first incorporated on January 18th, 1854. It spent thirteen years as a paper company before construction actually started. Service began between Grand Rapids and Cedar Springs on Christmas Day, 1867. By the middle of 1869, the rails were down as far as Morley and on to Paris in the fall of 1870. Trackage was also completed between Grand Rapids and Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1871, the GR&I acquired the Cincinnati, Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad Company, extending the GR&I to Cincinnati. Trackage was extending northward as well. By late 1872, a branch was completed between Walton to Traverse City. By the end of 1873, the line reached Petoskey and in 1882, Mackinaw City, becoming the longest north-south line in the country, at that time. As such, it had a large role in the settlement of northern Michigan. In 1886, the railroad also built a line connecting Grand Rapids and Muskegon.
The primary business in the early years was timber and lumber. This shifted to tourism and the GR&I advertised itself as "The Fishing Line". In partnership with the Michigan Central Railroad, the company built and opened the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in 1887. In 1918, the GR&I was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad, which operated it until 1975. The Michigan DOT purchased it and leased it to the Michigan Northern Railroad until 1984.
Today, most of the line is gone. The portion of the line between Grand Rapids and Cadillac has become the White Pine Trail. The line between Marne and Muskegon has become the Musketawa Trail.
Cache:
To locate stage 2, solve this simple field puzzle based on information available at stage 1.
- N 43 14.ABC W 085 33.DEF
- A = Fourth digit of the year Clara was born
- B = Number of words in the name of the orginzation providing the grant (green sign, north)
- C = Second digit of Clara's age when she moved to Cedar Springs
- D = Second digit of the year Clara graduated minus the fourth digit of the year she graduated
- E = First digit of Clara's age when she moved to Cedar Springs
- F = The number of letters in Clara's husband's first name
- Check your solution
Sources:
