After the Puritans landed on the shores of Massachusetts in 1630, they had quite a hard time settling into their new home. They originally set up base in the area that is now Charlestown, but the poor water quality there led to many of them falling ill.
At this time, an early settler named William Blackstone told them of the bountiful fresh water from a spring in the Shawmut Peninsula, where he had made his home. The piece of land was more like an island connected by a thin causeway. Surrounded by seawater and mixes of smelly brackish water, the spring, fed by the rich aquifers around it, was a critical resource for early residents, and this availability of water played a big role in the choice of the region for settlement.
A move to the peninsula followed, marking the genesis of modern-day Boston. The abundant water supply gradually dwindled as the settlement expanded, and the residents had to look outside the city for a more consistent supply, and more sophisticated water systems were put in place. The spring was covered up and later even paved over.
Many years later, at the start of the 20th century, the Bostonian Society installed a small plaque at the site of the spring, located in a dim alleyway named Spring Lane after the water source. The plaque reads, simply, “Here was the Great Spring which for more than two centuries gave water to the people of Boston.”
To log this cache please take a photo of yourself in front of the plaque on the opposite side of the alley as the Great Spring plaque, a few yards to the West, which describes the only settler from the Mayfower to relocate to Boston. If photos aren't your thing, please message me the name of the Mayflower passenger who relocated to this area.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.