This cache brings you to historic Glenwood Cemetery in northeast Washington, DC. Glenwood Cemetery was dedicated on August 2, 1854 after Congress passed legislation granting a congressional charter to The Proprietors of Glenwood Cemetery. The charter specified that the association must use at least 30 acres of its land for the cemetery. Through the years following, defaults on payments, a new congressional charter, and even a Supreme Court case finally settled on what we now see as "The Glenwood Cemetery".
Every cemetery tells a story. One interesting story here is that Abraham Lincoln visited this cemetery during the Civil War and how co-conspirator George Atzerodt was buried in an unmarked grave on the grounds following Lincoln's assassination. This cache will bring you to 4 different sites within the cemetery but as you go through, take a look around and imagine what other stories this cemetery holds.
Stage 1:
The first site to visit is at N 38° 55.398 W 077° 00.509.
This site marks the grace of Constantino Brumidi, also known as the "Michelangelo of the Capitol". Brumidi worked for twenty-five years adorning the rotunda, corridors, and committee rooms of the United States Capitol over five presidencies beginning with Millard Fillmore. His beautiful paintings, murals, and frescoes draw thousands of visitors annually.
AB = The last two digits of the year on the quote attributed to Brumidi
Just outside of the fence you'll see the grave of a woman named Nellie.
C = The last digit of the year of her birth
D = The last digit of the year of her death
Stage 2:
The second site is at N 38° 55.329 W 077° 00.378. Here marks the grave of Benjamin Grenup. Grenup is the first fireman killed in the line of duty in the District of Columbia and this monument was erected by his company in his honor. At regular intervals a fire engine bearing new recruits moves reverently through the gates to honor the grave of young Benjamin Grenup.
E = How many letters are in the word that describes what kind of fireman Grenup was?
Stage 3:
The third site is at N 38° 55.298 W 077° 00.386 and in some ways is the strangest site in the whole cemetery. According to the superintendent of the cemetery, the statues you see here were carved by Dayton Scoggins, a world renowned chainsaw sculptor artist, in lieu of simply removing some of the cemetery’s old-growth trees that were either dying or heavily damaged in storms. The decision to utilize the dying trees and to make something out of the wood ironically gave the dead trees in the cemetery “a new life.”
At the base of the dragon statue you will see the name of the carver along with the last two digits of the year it was carved.
F = The first digit of the two numbers.
Stage 4:
The fourth site is at N 38° 55.318 W 077° 00.277. This site makes the grave of Clarke Mills. Mills was a sculptor who is known for casting the Statue of Freedom that surmounts the Capitol Building. He is also the sculptor of the first self-balanced rampant equestrian statue in the world erected in Lafayette Park in Washington, DC.
On the last line of the text on the grave there is a year.
GHI = The year on the grave - 1484.
Final:
N 38 AB.CDE
W 77 FF.GHI
There is a FTF coin as a prize for the lucky first finder! Happy Caching!