The Sublimity area before 1840 was a vast forest, interspersed by Indian trails and sparkling mountain streams. A large Indian burn in the early 1800’s cleared the land where the present town now exists. Sublimity had its beginning as an outgrowth of an Indian village or trading post before 1846.
As early as 1852, the area served as a convenient gathering place for pioneers and had a primitive store. In September 1852, a post office was established, and the town got its official name. James Denny, one of the early settlers, thought the community ought to be called “Sublimity” because of the fine vista and sublime scenery in the hills around the town.
Early Sublimity was a larger town than it is today. In 1857 it had a Chinese Laundry, five stores, a gunmaker’s shop, a public school, a college, Methodist Church, United Brethren Church, a hotel, post office, public well, and made-to-order furniture shop.
When the Civil War broke out, Sublimity was a town of 1,500, but people returned to their native states to fight, and the town became deserted. The population declined and a depression set in. The 1860s brought resettlement by German Immigrant farmers. By 1874 nearly all the abandoned farms around Sublimity were possessed by new people, and the town grew rapidly.
The present St Boniface church was built in 1889 on the old site of Sublimity College. The president of the college was Milton Wright, father of the famous Wright Brothers Orville and Wilbur. I always think of this pretty little church as "The Jewel of Sublimity."
To log this virtual, send me the answer to the following question:
Across from the church and parking lot is a cemetery. There are two stone fences with plaques (one says "Saint Boniface Catholic Church" and one says "Cemetery of Holy Angels") which mark the entrance to the cemetery. Walk through this entrance and email me the name of the first gravestone plaque on the right hand side. Please do not write this name in the log or it will be deleted.
***Update*** Please do not forget to email me the above information, I will try to send a courtesy reminder but otherwise your log will be deleted, thanks for understanding.
Enjoy!!
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.