CACHE HAS LIMITED HOURS. SEE DESCRIPTION
Be Respectful, Replace cache as found.
Cache placed with permissions of property managers.
Using the sign with the reddish hue, line 4. Punctuation counts as a character. Spaces do not.
Position: 9 16 16 10 5 1 14
Key: F=1 J=2 R=3 S=4 Z=5 M=6 A=7 O=8 P=9 T=0
From the point where the initial coordinates take you, you are within sight of two of Sycamore's most majestic examples of historic architecture. To the west is DeKalb County Courthouse.
This is the third and current DeKalb County Courthouse was constructed in 1905 at an approximate cost of $137,000. The project reignited an ongoing debate at the time over the county courthouse's location and, once again, the over which town would hold the coveted title of county seat. The county Board of Supervisors authorized the project in 1901 and appropriated $100,000 for the new building. The idea for a new courthouse originated as early as 1900, when the essential design elements of the Lee County courthouse were chosen as the model for the new DeKalb County Courthouse. Though the courthouse was modeled after the Lee County structure it does differ; the Lee County building, in Dixon, Illinois, has a rooftop dome and also is longer and wider than the DeKalb County building. By 1903, the appropriation had been upped to $140,000 and the battle over the county seat had begun.
The city of DeKalb sought to wrest the title of county seat away from Sycamore. Two of DeKalb's most prominent citizens, Jacob Haish and Isaac L. Ellwood, each promised to donate $20,000 to help absorb some of the new building's cost; their donation hinged upon the courthouse being moved to and constructed in DeKalb. The city of Sycamore responded by raising $70,000 in donations from its citizens and legal wrangling continued, until 1904. Haish eventually pledged $103,000 for a DeKalb courthouse but it was decided that the county seat would stay in Sycamore and ground was broken, despite the continuing legal battle, on October 19, 1903. The building was completed on March 1, 1905 and the Crew Brothers Company was hired to demolish the 1850 DeKalb County Courthouse.
In recent history the third DeKalb County Courthouse has figured in films, as well as the Global War on Terrorism. Courtroom scenes for the 1982 made for television movie Will, the story of G. Gordon Liddy (of Watergate infamy), were filmed in the courthouse's third floor courtroom. In 2006 the United States Department of Justice announced it had arrested Derrick Shareef on terrorism related charges. Among the crimes the government accused Shareef of plotting was a plan to assault the DeKalb County Courthouse in order to "smoke a judge."
To the east is the Sycamore Public Library. Sycamore mayor and the library board's first president, Fred Townsend, donated the land for the library just after the turn of the 20th century.
Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie gave about $20,000 toward the building. Built on the site of Eli Barnes 1840 Mansion House Hotel, the red limestone building with clay tile roof was completed in 1905. In 1997 a much needed addition to the library was completed. In June 2005, Sycamore Public Library celebrated their 100th birthday by opening the 1905 cornerstone. It contained historical documents and photos placed there by the town officials, merchants, and newspaper editors.
A fountain once stood to the south of these coords in the center of State & Main Streets. The fountain was donated by Mrs. O. C. Boynton and is visible in many of the early photos of the library.
This is meant to be an easy cache, when you don't want to get muddy but still want to go geocaching.
This cache is located on Main Street Sycamore, Illinois. The cache is available year round and, while the puzzle can be solved 24/7, completing the cache is limited to the hours:
Monday-Thursday
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Friday
9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am - 5:00pm
Sundays
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The cache is not at the listed coordinates, so please don't uproot, tread on or trample any of the landscaping.
Have fun.