I grew up in the 80's and 90's so thought it would be fun to name any caches I hide after movies, songs, etc. from that era. I hope that everyone has an idea of what Another Brick In The Wall is from. It also seemed appropriate cache name for this multi.
I’m not a native to Seattle or even the Pacific Northwest. I do, however, enjoy learning about the history of where my family lives and have made our home. After doing my first multi-cache I thought it would be fun to research many of the older buildings in Ballard and create a multi close to home. As I set out to start doing my research I found that the Ballard Historical Society had already done all the hard work and even posted plaques along my intended route. Thank you to the men and women who already did the hard part! This is by no means a comprehensive history tour, but a fun little route to enjoy a nice walk. All of the numerical values can be found along your route very quickly (no sneakiness or trickery involved), but my hope is that geocachers will take the time to read the posted plaques and learn the history of this area. If not, then just speed along to the final destination and get your smiley. Please note that the difficulty rating of this cache is for the cache itself, not the pleasurable walk to pick up the numbers. Please bring your own writing instrument! If you forget one, I will reluctantly accept a photo of the cache in hand. Anything else will sadly get deleted.
The total distance from Waypoint 1 to the cache is approximately ½ mile.
** When you do get to the cache location, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use stealth. All of this area is often very busy with muggle activity, especially on the weekends and when the weather is nice. Please bring your own writing instrument! If you forget one, I will reluctantly accept a photo of the cache in hand. Please, please, please put the cache back the way you found it. The cache isn’t big and the log has a tendency to kind of stick out. I’ve tried to check the coordinates multiple times, but have gotten slightly various values with different devices. Please send me a private message if you’re getting something else once you make the grab. Don’t post suggested new coordinates and ruin the fun for others.
Find the numbers on the plaques as listed below. When there are many numbers you can ignore those with an “X”. For example, if I said this cache was hidden this year (2018). Let this year’s value be XXXa. Then just remember or write down that a=8. I’d suggest writing these values down as 1) you’ll already have a writing instrument with you (right?) and 2) there are several of them.
Waypoint 1 -- Did you remember to bring a writing instrument? If not, now would be a good time to get one before you reach the end. The Ballard Historical Society has placed plaques on various buildings of historical significance. The signs are on both sides of the street, but are all in plain sight and typically at the entrances to buildings. Find the Palmer Building. What was the value of the building in 1905? Let that be $a,XXX
From this point, make your way northwest along Ballard Avenue. Remember, the buildings of note (and the plaques you’ll need to find) may be on either side of the street. I’m pretty sure I was nice enough to put them in the order you’ll approach them.
Find the Hansen Building. What year did the Peterson and Olsen Bar take up residence of the ground floor? Let the year be XXXb.
Find the Ballard Livery & Transfer. In what year was the building meticulously restored? Let that year be XXcX
Find the Chopard Block. What year did Nicholas Theisen purchase the property? Let that year be XXdX.
Find the Theisen Block. The Theisen Hotel survived as a business into a certain decade. Let that decade be the XXeX’s.
Find a writing instrument if you haven’t already done so. If you hadn’t noticed, it is kind of a pet peeve of mine to read posts saying someone was out geocaching and forgot one. This isn’t a park and grab, so grab a writing instrument along Ballard Avenue if you don’t have one by now.
Find the Owl Saloon. The Owl remained in operation until what year? Let that year be XXfX.
Find the Club Tavern. This property housed a saloon as early as what year? Let that year be XXXg.
Find the Cors and Wegener Building. What year did William Cors and Robert Wegener first become business associates. Let that year be XXXh.
Find Ballard Hardware. Samuel and Lewis Barthelemy open the well-known Ballard Hardware business and successfully conducted business here for how many years? Let that number be Xi
Find the Junction Building. In what year did the Crystal Theater open? Let that year be XXjX
Find White Front and St. Paul Saloons. In what year did this site become the second incarnation of Ballard Hardware? Let that year be XXkX
Find Percy Sankey Dry Goods. In what year did Percy Sankey build this building to house his dry goods business? Let that year be XXXL. (yes, I capitalized L only to avoid confusion with “l” as a 1).
Find the Matthes Block. In what year was the third story added? Let that year be XXmX
Find the Scandanavian-American Bank. In 1892 the bank boasted a total capital of $nX,XXX.
Find Kutzner Block. In what year did J.W. Harvey open the Harvey Variety Co., Notions, Etc. here, which “supplied everybody everything they needed from a safety pin to a Ford car”? Let that year be XXXp. (yes, I skipped “o” to avoid confusion as a 0).
Find the Fisher Building. The current brick building on this site was built in what year? Let that year be XXqX.
Find the G.B. Sanborn Building. The hardware store was moved to this location in XXXr.
Find the Fremont Saloon. In what year was the Fremont Saloon moved to this building? Let that year be XXXs.
Find Olson Furniture. In what year did James and Welthia Kelsey built this one-story building? Let that year be XXtX.
Find the Ballard City Hall Bell. Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf XVI and Seattle’s mayor Wes Uhlman rang the bell to formally announce the creation of the Ballard Avenue Historic District in April 1976. What is the two digit date for the day when they rang the bell? Let that be u.
Find the Eagle Building. The building was built for a total of $vX,XXX.
Find the Enquist Block. How many decades did the building house Anderson Furniture and Carpeting? Let that be w
Find Halverson’s Dry Goods. In what year did Ballard Department Store close? Let that year be XXXx.
a = b = c = d = e = f = g =
h = i = j = k = L = m = n =
p = q = r = s = t = u = v =
w = x =
Hopefully you’ve learned a bit of history and collected all of the right numbers. By now you should also (hopefully) have a writing instrument in hand. Maybe you will use the writing instrument for some basic math? To solve for the final coordinates:
y = [(a + b + c + d + e + f + g + h + j) * i] + k
z = [(L + m + n + p + q + r + s + t + u + v + w) * x] + (u + v)
y checksum = 14
z checksum = 4
Final coordinates are:
N 47 40.y
W 122 23.z
**Edited 4/30/18** The final location has been moved slightly. From the calculated coordinates above, now add 0.009 to the latitude and add 0.044 to the longitude. I've also added a geochecker for confirming the new final location (below).
Last, but not least, please remember:
1) Sign the log
2) Don’t post alternative coordinates. Again, I’ve tried to check the coordinates multiple times, but have gotten slightly various values with different devices. Please send me a private message if you’re getting something else once you make the grab. Don’t post suggested new coordinates and ruin the fun for others.
3) As I wrote above please, please, please put the cache back the way you found it.
4) I’d appreciate feedback on the difficulty rating. Send me a private message to let me know if you think it should be adjusted up or down.
Thanks!
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.