This cache placement is part of the Garland History GeoTour. Should you wish to download the GeoTour passport to earn our beautiful GeoCoin, you can find the GeoTour page here. The log will contain a secret word which you must enter on your passport in the appropriate slot.
Be sure to log your "Will Attend" for the kickoff party of Garland GeoTour 2.0!
This cache is a multi from which, hopefully, you will learn a little about some of Garland's Firsts. Specifically, the first firehouse, the first power plant, the first jail and the first manufacturing plant in our cozy little town. At each location, you'll need to find some information that will help you build the coordinates to the final stage. The first three can easily be done on foot, though you might have to step around some construction. The last one is walking distance if you have plenty of time and want to get your steps in for the week; otherwise you might want to drive to the final.
First Fire Station:
On November 7, 1948 this building was dedicated as the Garland Volunteer Fire Station, the first for the city. Once Garland built the new Fire Station 1 on Austin Street, this building began to used by the Garland Optimist Club (you can still see where their sign was on the building to this day). It also housed the Garland Police Department's boxing ring. It was taken over by BSA Troop 100 in the 1980s and they still maintain and use the building exclusively, though it is still owned by the City of Garland.
To find the coordinates of the next stage, you need some information from the sign on the building, which is now the troop house for BSA Troop 100.
All BSA Troops have are sponsored by an organization. The Troop doesn't exist without this organization. A local organization in Garland holds the charter for Troop 100, which meets Tuesday nights in this building. Find that organization in the list below and add the numbers associated with the correct answer to the decimal minutes of the posted coordinates (where you should be now):
Garland Habitat for Humanity: N +4, W -18
Garland Fire Fighters Association: N -6, W -40
The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists: N +204, W -1
First Power Plant:
On September 7, 1906 Garland's City Council granted the franchise for its first electric power generation plant. Thankfully the Fairbanks-Morse Company offered to sell the city a 100 HP generator on credit, provided the city would build its own electric distribution system and use the revenue to retire bond debt and on April 1, 1923 Garland officially entered the electric and water utility business with 300 customers and a load of 70 kilowatts. Now with more than 73,000 customers, Garland Power & Light has grown to become the fourth largest municipal utility in the State of Texas, and the 43rd largest in the nation.
After GP&L opened the Olinger Power Plant in 1967, the original plant in downtown was closed. For decades, this building sat empty as it had a deep pit that would need to be filled in before it could be sold or leased. Now the Foundry Church is putting it to good use!
To find the coordinates for the third stage of the Series of Garland Firsts cache, you need some information from a building dedication plaque at the site of Garland's first power plant. The year the building was dedicated is on the plaque. Find that, and use the four digits of the year and your math skills to find the coordinates of Garland's first pokey.
Year digits = ABCD
Third stage coordinates = N 32° 54.71(C-A)' W 96° 38.CD(C-D)'
First Jail Cell:
On April 13, 1951, a new Garland Police Station was opened at this site and included one jail cell. This jail cell used to have its own cache. It was called Hoosegaw and was owned by a friend of the Garland GeoTour Groundwork Committee named SurrenderTheBooty. Booty used to be a Garland police officer, but he retired to go geocaching full time. His original Hoosegaw cache was archived when the first jail cell lost its iron door (you can see the sliding iron door in the photo behind some of our favorite geocaching buddies). Seems the church that took over the building didn't want its congregation to feel like they were a captive audience so they put in a more modern glass entryway to the former lockup.
Even though the original jail's iron door is gone, the bars are still visible behind the glass in the office's two windows. To find the coords for the final, you will need to count the bars in each of the windows. Add up the total number of vertical bars and using your alpha skills, enter your answer in Certitude at the link below to get the final coordinates.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.