Welcome to the Farewell to Finder’s Fest geo-art, brought to you by the Forest Minions! This series celebrates weird and unusual things throughout the Sunshine State. Please do not go to the posted locations. Rather, solve the challenging quiz found at the bottom of each page, for the final location. For the letterbox caches, please leave the stamp in the cache. They are not trade items. For the discerning traveler, we’ve included the GPS coordinates for these bizarre locations, when we were able to establish them.
Osceola Bank Vault – Location 28.7986, -81.0680
If you drive through the community of Geneva and follow Osceola Road all the way to the end, you’ll see a large bank vault sitting in the edge of the woods. This vault, that is actually the size of a small house, is all that remains of the town of Osceola that once sat on the banks of the St. Johns River. In 1916 the Tidewater Cypress Company of Cedar Key organized a new company, the Osceola Cypress Company and built a huge sawmill and a complete town at this location. During the second Seminole war, in 1837, this was the site of King Philip’s town, a Seminole camp. After the Civil War the area was known as “Cooks Ferry” until the Florida East Coast Railroad Company bridged the river in 1911 and changed the name to “Bridge End.” With the railroad and the river, this was an ideal location for a big sawmill operation. The town of Osceola took its name from the famous Seminole warrior of the same name. The abandoned bank vault, which once held the company’s books and payroll, was part of company’s office building. The big, brick, walk-in vault was the only place in town safe from fire and robbery.
Here is the super duper, way challenging, really hard trivia question, which, if solved properly, will lead you to the final coordinates:
Question: According to biologists, which critter has the least efficient digestive tract, pooping out the largest percentage of what they consume?
A: Pokemon = N29° 29.459' W81° 49.563'
B: Unicorns = N29° 29.449' W81° 49.563'
C: Pandas = N29° 29.439' W81° 49.563'