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Voegtly Church Cemetery Multi-Cache

Hidden : 5/12/2017
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This three-stage multi cache will let you follow in the post-mortem footsteps of some of Pittsburgh's 19th century German residents. If you're doing this cache by itself a vehicle could help, but if you go on foot there are a bunch of other caches along the way!


The posted coordinates will bring you to a corner on Ahlers Way, formerly known as Church St. If you look south along the street to Route 28, you'll see the area  where the First German Protestant Evangelical Church of Allegheny, commonly known as the Voegtly Church, once stood. (We'd have placed the start of this cache nearer to the church site, but there are other caches too close!)

The Voegtly Church had a cemetery for its congregants, who were buried there from 1833 to 1861. But over time, the cemetery was forgotten and buried under a parking lot. In 1987, PennDOT crews working on Interstates 279 and 579 uncovered the forgotten cemetery. The remains were carefully exhumed, but identifying the specific individuals proved challenging.

In 2002, the remains excavated from the cemetery were re-buried in Troy Hill. Here's a story from the Post-Gazette about the excavation and reburial.

Locate the first stage of the cache to get the coordinates for the monument erected to commemmorate the reburial. Decode the location of the final stage by counting the number of letters in the specified words of the dedication on the north side of the monument:
A: Line 2, word 2
B: Line 4, word 1
C: Line 3, word 7
D: Line 1, word 2

Final is at N 40 28.0A0 W 079 58.BCD. You seek a large camo pill bottle.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Fgntr 1: ZntargvpFgntr 2: PebffFgntr 3: Srapr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)