I have enjoyed many of the “Historical Hamilton” series of caches over the years, they have brought me to many interesting spots. Hamilton is not the only city with a rich history, Burlington has one as well. That’s why I’ve started this series of caches - based on the “Historical Hamilton” series. This is the second one. Please feel free to add to this series of caches, it does not need to be limited to one owner. If you know of a historic place in Burlington to which you would like to bring people, feel free to add it to the series!
Towers Department Store and Area
At this location on Plains Road in Aldershot, the summer of ’61 brought about some big retail history, which was the start of the movement towards big discount department stores. On Aug. 22, 1961 a Towers department store opened, with this entrance marked with a “T” (standing on top of the entrance pole), as the driveway for Towers.
At that time, then mayor John A. Lockhart, spoke, "There may be some who feel business dangers are presented to a community with a venture of this kind, but I feel certain it will attract thousands of people for miles around."
Until then, department stores had been multi-floor affairs, usually downtown, usually in a building with substantial architecture. Then along came Towers, picking up on a trend that had broken out 10 years earlier in the States.
Make the store bigger than a football field, put it in the suburbs, add acres of parking. Don't spend much on display and tell consumers it's a "discount" department store. A Towers executive promised Aldershot shoppers they would see 20 to 40 per cent off "everything from peanuts to pianos." One more thing. These big discount stores didn't need to be pretty. Just walls and a roof.
Nobody used the term then, but what was born that day was this area's first big box store. Towers closed it doors, when it was swallowed up by Zellers in 1990.
Just a little video, I thought you might find interesting (perhaps you remember it): https://youtu.be/FNqcFj1FHtw
Off to the Final:
The posted coordinates will take you to a number of historical photos of this stretch of Plains Road, I hope you find interesting. This is where you will collect the necessary information to locate the cache container.
Final Coordinates N 43 18.ABC W 079 51.DEF
A = There is a post mark, in the bottom right corner of the Red Star Garage Photo, What is the third digit found after the letters AP
B = Number of Trucks on the TEXACO Photo, minus 1
C = Number of Flags (regular rectangular flags), in the Towers Photo, plus 1
(do not count the small triangular flags, or the large banner under the word “TOWERS”)
D = Third digit in the year on the Unsworth Greenhouse Photo
E = There was an “Imperial Oil Service Station” nearby on Wolfe Island, look for this photo. What is the difference between the two highway numbers that once met here.
F = On the National Fireproofing Photo, there is a five letter Acronym, What is the Numerical equivalent (ie., A=1, B = 2, C=3, . . . .) to the fourth digit in this acronym.
Good Luck and Happy Multi-Caching!