The 2016 Brr Winter caching series is focused around historical locations in the Greater Holland area. In addition to giving you a chance to add another smiley to your stats and have a little Geowinterfun we've added a touch of learning. We hope you have fun caching and learning. Don't forget to grab the code for the bonus cache.
On October 8 1871 about 2/3 of Holland burned. In the midst of a summer drought, a total of five major fires broke out in the Midwest, including in Holland, Peshtigo and, most famously, Chicago.
The popular story is that an ember blew across Lake Michigan, transporting the Windy City’s blaze to Holland. Really, the fire started in the woody southwest end of Holland around the same time as the Chicago fire. Holland’s population of about 3,000, generally in church for Sunday service, was warned of the approaching blaze by the ringing out of church bells around the city.The city’s residents joined the volunteer fire force of about 30 to combat the blaze. Strong winds — which factored into the other major fires around the Great Lakes — made fighting the fire extremely difficult.
The people of Holland scrambled to save their possessions — putting them down wells or burying them in the sand or in the public market that is now Centennial Park. They thought their things might be safe in the middle of the wide open space. In the end, the fire destroyed about $100,000 worth of property — of which less than $30,000 was insured and less than $18,000 was ever actually paid. Many of the same insurance companies covered Holland and Chicago and many went bankrupt after Oct. 9.
Nearly 200 homes were destroyed, although the fire caused only one death: A widow living at the corner of 9th Avenue and River. It was speculated that she either slept through the fire or ran back into her house to save some of her possessions. Relief poured in from the surrounding communities in the days following the blaze, especially from Grand Rapids. Today, burned artifacts from the fire may be found in the Holland Museum.
Most of the community was financially devastated. Proportionally, the local fire destroyed more of Holland than the famous fire did of Chicago.Although a majority of the city found itself homeless after the blaze, most stayed to rebuild.
The posted coords will place you in front of the former city hall and firehouse. To find the geocache you will need to collect some information from the historic marker nearby.
The cache is located at N42 47.ABC W86 06.XYZ
A= Last digit in the year the building was completed.
B= Last digit in the year the city bought this land.
C= Third digit of the year a group gathered for an oyster supper
X= Second digit of the hose length mentioned.
Y=third digit of the number of people that gathered for the oyster supper.
Z= Third digit of the year of the fire that devastated the city.
Check sum ABCXYZ = 21, Now add .002 to the North coords.