Welcome to Livingston County’s Bicentennial GeoTrail!
My name is Find R. Fox. I’ll be your guide to super-sleuthing the hides at these amazing, historical locations all around our beautiful 200-year-old county!
To make your travel through history a bit easier, imagine yourself in a Time Machine (your best mode of transportation will do). Set the dial (your gps unit) to the first year (coordinates) listed below, check the waypoints for Parking and push the navigate button! Whirl your way there then switch your coordinates as needed to navigate to the geocache to sniff out the container and sign the log sheet. Good Luck & Enjoy the journey!!
For viewing Mills Mansion, 8 AM to 8 PM - although to solve the puzzle, it may be easiest during the day! Also, please cross on the crosswalk and be careful crossing the street, as that street is busy!
William Augustus Mills came to Mount Morris in 1794, built a log cabin and became the first permanent white settler. He married Susannah Harris and the couple raised nine children. In the War of 1812, he rose to the rank of major-general and became most well known locally as General Mills.
Mills became a prosperous farmer and highly influencial citizen. Among many accomplishments, Mills served as the first town supervisor, helped establish the County of Livingston in 1821, and organized the first state militia in the area. In 1838, at the age of 60, he built what is now referred to as the Mills Mansion. The stately 14-room brick Federalist type home features a cantilevered staircase, solid cherry pocket doors, and an open hearth.
Upon the General’s death in 1844, the house became the property of his daughter Susannah Branch whose son lived in the house until 1923. The house changed hands many times then was vacant for several years and in jeopardy of demolition when the a group of local people came together in 1976 to form the Mount Morris Historical Society with the primary focus of preserving the Mills Mansion for the society’s headquarters and restoring the home to reflect the era when the Mills family occupied the residence.
The building was listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Thanks to Lucky46 for his assistance in hiding this one!
Thanks to the Mt. Morris Historical Society for their cooperation in placing this cache!
Leave your vehicle parked at the posting coordinates and use the greenway to head in the general proper direction once you have figured out the coordinates for the final.
For the sign, use the north side of sign (the side facing the sidewalk up to the mansion).
Final is hidden @ N 42 43.ABC, W 77 52.BDE where
A = Number of round pillars across the the front of the two porches on the front of the mansion
B = The 4th number across the bottom of the sign in front of the mansion
C = How many times does the letter 'S' appear on the sign in front of the mansion?
D = Number of windows above the right-hand porch at the front of the mansion
E = The second number in the year the mansion was built from the sign in front of the mansion
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
For those not using the checker - the sum of the North Coordinates plus 6 equals the sum of the West Coordinates!
This cache is 1 of 36 caches comprising the Livingston County Bicentennial GeoTrail (LivCo200) placed in the summer of 2021 in honor of Livingston County’s Bicentennial by members of the local geocaching group called the Bee Hive. For more information about Livingston County’s Bicentennial, visit the County Historian’s Bicentennial web page on the Livingston County New York website at https://www.livingstoncounty.us/1115/County-Bicentennial
