Maitland’s Blackboy Statue
Meet Maitland’s oldest resident ‘‘BLACK BOY’’ who has been a part of Maitland’s high street since 1886 and was once the most recognisable icon the city had. He is belived to be imported from America as a gift to a local Tobacconist. Where on High Street he first stood since 1886, he has been relocated a few times before his current location.
The little black boy has seen it all that has passed through maitland. Imagine the stories he could tell of Les Darcy, or the 1955 flood. He has even been kidnapped, hit by a cars, and in order to protect the orginal statue its belived the current statue is a fiberglass replica.
‘‘BLACK BOY’’ STATUE, corner of Church and High streets
The legend of the lawn Jockey
The statue is known as a lawn jockey, and a hitching post for horses. The 'lawn jockey' has its origins in the tale of Jocko Graves, an African-American boy who served George Washington when he crossed the Delaware river to carry out an attack. He was left to tend to the horses and froze to death during the night.
It is unclear if the story of jocko is true as no account has been found. But, the legend of Jocko is an inspiration to others about dedication.
Maitland’s Black boy isn’t an original piece. But few remain due to vandalism. Maitland’s statue had relatives in South Australia of the same age; however they were damaged, as people believed the statues exploited the black slavery era.
Requirements to log this cache - Maitland’s little black boy statue can often be found dressed up by the locals in his favourite team colours or holiday attire, and in past times he often received a repaint to match the local festivities. To continue this tradition post a photo along with your log, of the blackboy statue dressed with at least one item of clothing /apparel (examples include a shirt / hat, etc).
All logs without a photo meeting the requirement will be deleted after a week.
(Don’t forget to undress him after you have taken your photo)
An example photo could be
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.