This geocache is one of twenty Historical Geo-Passport geocaches within the South Nation Jurisdiction. For more information on this series of geocaches, please visit South_Nation.
You will find three very old words written at the top of the historic building at the posted coordinates. This is one of the few buildings that stood up to the fire a century ago. How many letters are in the three words (total) (=Z)? UPDATE: A sign covers the words "County Registry Office".
Your next stop will be at the Keith Boyd Museum (no need to enter any buildings or even leave the sidewalk) at the reference point, N45 15.317 W75 21.435. Look for a depiction of the City of Ottawa Silsby steam pumper. Note the 4 digit number and then two obvious single digits. Look several meters over to your right for another 4 digit number white on a black background.
Take the sum of all the individual digits you collected at this reference point, and add Z. Call this F.
A= (F*2)+31
B= F*9.6
Add A to the posted decimal north minutes, and subtract B from the posted decimal west minutes.
Histoire / History:
Le village de Russell, le long de la rivière Castor, s’est agrandi en une ville prospère grâce à la New York Central Railway. Après la construction de gares ferroviaires dans les villes environnantes comme South Indian (aujourd'hui Limoges), Osgoode et Morewood, le Conseil du canton réalisa en 1884 que pour survivre, Russell avait besoin d'un moyen de transport. En juin 1897, le Conseil adopta un règlement visant à amasser 10 000 $ pour aider la Pacific Railway Company de l'Ontario à construire le nouveau chemin de fer, à condition que la compagnie de chemin de fer ait au moins deux trains de passagers qui s’arrêtent à chacune des stations dans tout le canton.
Suite à la construction de la gare, le Village de Russell devint le centre commercial du canton ; les hôtels se remplirent de voyageurs, de nouvelles boutiques s’ouvrirent, et les convois d'animaux de ferme passèrent par les parcs à bestiaux.
La survie de la ville, lors du Grand Incendie de 1915, fut liée à la capacité du service des incendies d'Ottawa de venir en aide au village par l’intermédiaire du chemin de fer, sauvant ainsi le village après que vingt-cinq bâtiments eurent été détruits.
Vers l’année 1940, le nombre de passagers diminua, entraînant l’abandon du service de train de passagers de Russell en 1954, et le dernier train circula le 14 février 1957.
Aujourd'hui, l'un des monuments les plus remarquables dans le village est le déversoir de Russell, construit en 1967, en aval du site du barrage d'origine de 1916.
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Russell was and is an important village that became a town located on the Castor River. This is an important subwatershed within the larger South Nation River Watershed, comprising parts of the City of Ottawa, Russell, North Dundas, and Nation. One of the more interesting historical stories about Russell was the Great Fire of 1915.
On June 6, 1915, fire started in Murray's Tinsmith Shop and quickly spread from building to building in Russell. Many residents tried to put out the fire with buckets of water, but it was evident they needed more help. Calls were made to the Ottawa Fire Department who came running faster than ever on the New York Central Railway. They say it was the fastest a train ever went on that track. A total of twenty-five buildings were destroyed. The old land registry building lost its roof in the fire but all the records were saved. The oldest records of the building go back to 1852. The building is still standing today.
The New York Central Railway was an essential part of Russell's development. In 1884, the Township's council knew that they needed transportation if they wanted the community to grow. In June 1897, the council passed a by-law to raise 10,000$ to aid the Ontario Pacific Railway Company to build the railway. In exchange, the railway company had to have at least two passenger trains that would stop for all the passengers each way at all the stations including Russell. The Ontario Pacific Railway Company changed its name to The Ottawa and New York Railway Company in 1898 then the line was leased to the New York Central Railway Company. With the building of the station, Russell Village became the commercial centre for the Township and also for the eastern part of Osgoode and the northern part of Winchester. The hotels were filled with travellers and settlers, new shops were opening and loads of farm animals passed though the stockyards. It became a livestock sales centre. Around 1940 the passenger traffic began diminishing; people had their own cars. In 1954 the passenger train service to Russell was abandoned. On February 14, 1957, the last train ran on the New York Central System.