City Park Puzzle Cache
This multi-stage cache will lead you to different sites inside the Parkersburg City Park. Each site is a virtual cache in which you will use to the information to fill in the blanks on the puzzle. The park is not very large and all of the sites can easily be accessed by walking. I would suggest parking just inside either entrance and then starting your search. Park hours are 7am-11pm.
Find the answers to the puzzle clues and write them in the puzzle boxes. When you are finished, the colored boxes will translate to a numerical sequence, which will complete the coordinates for the final cache location. Just use the puzzle key for the letter/number translation. Good luck!
Here is a bit of City Park history for those of you who are interested:
In 1897, at a cost of $52,000, 42-acres were purchased by the City of Parkersburg as a park. Another 15 acres were added later. While the area had long been a fairgrounds and racetrack, major improvements to the park came in 1903 when electricity was installed and the first water lines laid in 1911. The park’s most famous landmarks once included two lily ponds and a water fountain. The pond located near 23rd Street and Park Avenue became known as the largest man-made lily pond in the world in the early 1900s. The lilies were removed circa 1980. The fountain standing at the park’s main entrance at 17th Street and Park Avenue was a gift from James Jackson in 1905.
Today, the park offers a baseball field, basketball and tennis courts, a walk track, a pavilion, swimming pool, veteran's memorial, playground, covered horseshoe throwing pits, a band shell for live musical performances, miniature golf and a large pond, which features numerous ducks and geese and a large central fountain.
N39°16.__ __ __ W081°31.__ __ __
1. N39°16.350 W081°31.807--This object came from land in Wood County once owned by this US president, which was given to him by the Governor of Virginia for his military service. Place this answer in the first vertical column.
2. N39°16.309 W081°31.745--This once sat on Fort Boreman and was brought to the City Park in 1922. What is its ‘given name’ (2 words)? This answer goes in the second column.
3. N39°16.316 W081°31.851--There is a time capsule buried here that is to be opened in the year 2076. What month is it to be opened? This is the answer for the third column.
4. N39°16.317 W081°31.794--This was originally constructed by Henry ________ in Mineral Wells in 1804 and was later sold for $400 and moved to the City Park in 1910. Column four is where you write this answer.
5. N39°16.271 W081°31.849--What ‘fueled’ this generous gift to Parkersburg by Mr. Creel in 1972? Column five.
6. N39°16.195 W081°31.874--This monument is a likeness of one whom US President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot in Mississippi in 1902. This is the answer for the last column.