This cache placement is part of the Garland History GeoTour v2.0. Should you wish to download the GeoTour 2.0 passport to earn our beautiful new 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.
The cache is not at the posted coordinates. Start at the bridges and read on to learn how to find the coordinates for the final.
The Bankhead Highway is the first all-season transcontinental highway in America. It runs from Washington, D.C. to San Diego, California, passing through Texas from Texarkana to El Paso right through Downtown Garland. To understand the importance of 
this highway, you must imagine what automobile travel was like a hundred years ago … the roads were little more than dirt trails, impossible to pass after a hard rain or snow. The reliability of automobiles was weak, at best, which is why service stations sprung up like weeds alongside roads. Auto travel of more than a few miles could have taken hours, even in good weather. The Good Roads Movement aimed to change auto travel and gained momentum after 1903 when Henry Ford began mass producing automobiles. This eventually led to the Good Roads Act of 1916, authored by Sen. John H. Bankhead of Alabama.
In April of 1919, The Dallas Morning News reported that the Bankhead Highway Pathfinders group had traveled 3,500 miles, recommending the Texas route pass through Garland, based in part on the “ability and willingness of people to build and maintain the road, together with such aid as they may be able to obtain from the state and federal government.” County taxpayers eventually provided more than 70% of construction funding for the section serving Garland.
The Bankhead Highway wore several nicknames, such as Main Street USA and Broadway of America, and still runs through Garland on what is present day Main Street and Garland Avenue. Street signs marking it as “Bankhead Avenue” remained in place as late as the 1950s. Traffic through Downtown Garland on the Bankhead Highway provided a major boom for businesses along Garland’s main street and the city’s Square.
This old Bankhead bridge is a cool reminder of times gone by. It's one of many pieces of the old highway that still hangs around, just so we won't forget. While you ponder days gone by, please count the total number of columns you see here and enter that number in the checker below to get the coordinates of the final for this piece of the Garland GeoTour 2.0.
You can validate your puzzle solution with
certitude.