This is a 3 stage Virtual Rewards 3.0 cache. The walk is short with plenty of parking in the Ashland downtown area. Please note there is no open parking near stages 2 and 3. Please DO NOT park anywhere near stage 3 so that I can keep this Virtual Rewards Cache available for everyone.
The first stage of this VR cache, where PNC Bank is today, used to be the location of the original fire station for Ashland City before the current one on Cleveland Ave was built.. The fire station was originally built in 1880 and housed both the fire and police departments. In 1956 the town was growing large enough to warrant additional firemen and policemen so the police department was moved to the municipal building on Claremont Ave.
Interesting fact regarding the pole you are standing next to: This pole was directly across the street from the stations 2 front doors. During a late night fire call in the winter the nearby utility pole was struck by the fire departments Seagrave fire truck due to black ice on West 2nd Street. The pole remained standing and the only damage the truck received from the impact was a dented front bumper.
The second stage will take you to what used to be the exit used by the fire dept to head to Western and Northern areas of the town. There is a bench nearby to sit and relax if needed. An interesting fact of this location is the armed forces recruiting office was just North of this spot. They eventually moved to Wooster in the early 1990's.
The final stage of this historical journey will take you to the front of the fire station that opened for operation in December 1970. This new station greatly increased the number of vehicles and men that could be supported over the older firehouse. What most people know as the front of the fire station on Cleveland Ave is actually the rear of the station. Just before construction began, but after the building plans were finalized, they decided to turn the building 180 degrees to allow the trucks to exit the station easier. The difference in elevation between 3rd Street and the floor of the station was determined to be too much for the fire trucks to use. The commemmorative plate below shows the actual front of the fire station on Cleveland Ave. before it was decided to rotate it.
To satisfy the requirements for logging this VR3.0 cache please answer the following questions for each stage. Please DO NOT post your answers or any pictures with the answers in the log. For stages 1 and 2 please provide the answers in numerical format.
Stage 1) How many chimneys are on the PNC bank at the location of the old fire station. Not all can be seen from this location.
Stage 2) How many lights are on the pole to to the south near this location. Between you and East Main St.
Stage 3) Take a picture of yourself or GPS with the original front of the fire station in the background.
*** Congratulations to sunflowersu for the FTF!!! ***
I'd like to thank my dad for providing the history and some of the items used in this cache. Also thank you Chief Rick Anderson for supplying a couple of the pictures and allowing me to have this cache at the fire station.
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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.