This beautiful historic site is the reason Bethesda is named Bethesda. We lived in this area for years but never walked up the hill to appreciate this site – until we got into geocaching and then discovered GC49D6M (Bethesda Meeting House) in 2014. We were disappointed to learn that the original cache was archived in 2019 after the cache owner could no longer maintain it. So we decided to try to tempt geocachers back to this historic hill.
This location started out as a Presbyterian church named the “Bethesda House of Mercy” in the early 1800s, and after that church burned it was replaced by the Bethesda Meeting House (still Presbyterian) in 1850. At that time, the local post office was called “Darcy’s Store,” but the pastor of the Bethesda Meeting House lobbied to rename the post office – and thus the community – after the church. In 1871, the Postmaster Robert Franck renamed the post office “Bethesda.” (Wikipedia) The Presbyterians moved elsewhere in Bethesda in the 1920s, and the church became the home of the Temple Hill Baptist Church. As that congregation dwindled, the church fell into disuse and then disrepair. In the early 2020s, leaders of the Bethesda Historical Society decided to try to save the historic buildings, and in 2023 a new organization, the Bethesda Meeting House Foundation, emerged and acquired the property. Updates on the plans for the building are available here.
The 1850 Bethesda Meeting House was built in the Greek Revival “temple” form – one of the few buildings in the area in this style. Just south of the church is a parsonage, a two-story Victorian structure probably built in 1851. Because of its historic local and architectural significance, in 1977 the entire property was registered on the National Registry of Historic Places. (National Registry)
Although surely not anticipated when the churches or the community were named in the 1800s, the name “Bethesda” is very appropriate for the area. The churches were named after the biblical “Pool of Bethesda,” where, according to the Christian New Testament, Jesus healed a paralyzed man. (Wikipedia) Appropriately, just south of the Bethesda Meeting House are the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Library of Medicine, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (formerly known as the National Navel Medical Center), and the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine.
This is a simple two-step geocache, with the final cache located off site (but nearby). The listed coordinates point to the front porch of the church. BUT, BECAUSE OF THE CURRENT DISREPAIR OF THE BUILDING AND THE HOPED-FOR PLANS TO REHABILITATE THE SITE, YOU NO LONGER NEED TO APPROACH THE CHURCH ITSELF. If there is no active construction and no signs to the contrary, you may be able to walk up the hill, peek at the stained glass windows in the sunlight, and appreciate the building up close. But do not go onto or damage the building.
The geocache itself is a small lock&lock located at:
N 39 00.X W 077 05.Y
Where:
X is a three digit number = The year the original House of Mercy was built (according to the sign - viewable from the sidewalk at the northeast corner of the church property, just south of the cemetery - if you park where indicated, you will pass the sign walking to the Bethesda Meeting House) MINUS 1083 to get X.
Y is a three digit number = The year that the Bethesda Meeting House was “marked” by the Fort Garrison Chapter (according to one of the signs to the left of the front door of the church) MINUS 1073 June 2023 EDIT: Unfortunately, all of the historic plaques near the front door of the church have been removed! February 2024 EDIT: Just to the left of the driveway up the hill is a large new sign announcing the acquisition of the property, That sign has seven lines of text:
- Count the number of words in the 4th line = A
- Count the number of words in the 5th line = B
- Count the number of words in the 7th and last line = C
- Combine those values into a three digit number ABC, and ADD 39 to get Y.
AS A CHECK, if you add the six separate digits that make up X and Y, you should reach 32.
The cache is a small container, but we’ve been able to squeeze in a few fun trinkets for the kids (and a small pencil). We have left TWO “first to find” prizes: for grown-ups, one unactivated Travel Bug, and a separate special prize for kids! If you do NOT have kids in your group, please leave the kid-focused FTF for the first group with kids. This cache should be a very easy introduction for kids to a “puzzle”-style cache.
Importantly, when you are looking for the final cache itself, it is easily accessible – you will have to guard against muggles, but not prickly bushes or poison ivy. The parking coordinates are to a nearby side street just north of the Bethesda Meeting House. Have fun!
Congrats to Zingy125 for being the first to find AND log their find here!