Welcome to Spar Hill Farm! A few important points about the site are emphasized first, but please read ALL of the preserve rules and regulations below before proceeding to this cache:
- Spar Hill Farm is, in fact, open daily from dawn to dusk, despite the NO TRESPASSING signs you might notice at the entrance to the preserve. These signs refer to the abandoned structures on the property, not the trail network or parking area. Rest assured, you will not be towed, ticketed, or sued for exploring the preserve as long as you park at the designated parking area and obey all rules.
- Stay on maintained trails until you reach GZ, where you may need to lightly bushwhack only a short distance to access the cache. Please vary your route to avoid obvious geotrails from forming.
- This cache can be accessed by following preserve trails. That said, trails are maintained but are NOT currently blazed or signed. Please familiarize yourself with the map in the image file below before heading out to GZ. There is no kiosk or map currently on-site to assist you. In this case, the quickest (and safest) path from Point A to Point B is NOT a straight line.
- Dogs are permitted, but must be kept on leash AT ALL TIMES.
- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU ENTER ANY OF THE STRUCTURES ON THE PRESERVE! Tetanus, mesothelioma, rabies, death, and/or trespassing charges are just a few of the afflictions you may come to acquire by disobeying this policy.
*Cache placed with permission from Kennett Township*
This cache was placed by on International Geocaching Day by 84.6% of the total nincompoops that comprise LawFunTimes, CachingCrew6, and SirPapu to add to the collection of geocaches celebrating the 46 PA/DE boundary markers placed in 1892 by W.C. Hodgkins. In case you've missed the others, now's your chance to find a cache in two states at the same time (well....kinda....)!
The unique Delaware-Pennsylvania 12-mile Circular Boundary originated in 1681 when King Charles II of England granted William Penn land north of a 12 mile circle centered on New Castle. In 1701, Isaac Taylor of West Chester County and Thomas Pierson of New Castle County were appointed to survey and mark the boundary from the Delaware River westward for 120 degrees or two-thirds of a semicircle. Because of errors in this difficult survey, the arc is a compound curve with several different radii.
Lt. Col. J. D. Graham, U. S. Corps of Topographical Engineers, during the 1849 resurvey of the northeast corner of Maryland, correctly located the 12-mile distance in the area of the junction of the three states, creating the area known as "The Wedge". Graham's work was not ratified by Delaware as this would have given The Wedge to Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania did take steps to ratify the Graham line. The change was accepted on paper (maps) but was ignored in fact by Delaware which continued to exercise jurisdiction over the area.
In 1892, W.C. Hodgkins, Office of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, was contracted by a joint commission to survey and monument the Delaware-Pennsylvania boundary. Hodgkins extended the northern boundary of Maryland eastward across the top of the Wedge to the 12-mile Circle. This created the Top of the Wedge Line. Hodgkins then marked the 12-mile Circle every half-mile. Including the initial point and a terminal point there are 46 monuments. The initial and terminal stones are made of dark gneiss of the Wilmington Complex and bear the names of the commissioners representing Pennsylvania and Delaware. The rest of the stones are pryamidic frustums of gray gneiss monuments, 10 inches square at the top and projecting from 2 to 30 inches above the ground. The half-mile stones bear a "1/2" on their west side . The mile stones bear a "P" on the north face, a "D" on the south face, the mile number from the initial stone on the west face, and the date 1892 on the east face." (Schenck, William S., Delaware Geological Survey, 2007).
The above information was cited from: https://www.dgs.udel.edu/sites/default/files/publications/info6.pdf
A BIG thanks goes out to LawFunTimes for recycling and donating this classic cache container!!