Full of history, culture, and recreational opportunities, Marion County really is the Middle of Everywhere! From the rolling rapids of Valley Falls State Park to the Italian influence of local bakeries, there's so much to do while visiting the area. While you're visiting West Virginia, we invite you to join us for the Middle of Everywhere GeoTour! This officially registered tour highlights 20 of our favorite locations in the area, categorized by shops, history, murals, and parks! Find 16/20 caches to qualify for a limited-edition GeoTour coin. Find all 20 to get a unique souvenir added to your Geocaching profile.
For information regarding the GeoTour and a full list of caches, please visit our website.
MOE-GT #12: Number Nine
Category: Marion's Mining
The Farmington Mine disaster was an explosion that happened at approximately 5:30 a.m. on November 20, 1968, at the Consol No. 9 coal mine north of Farmington and Mannington, West Virginia, USA. The explosion was large enough to be felt in Fairmont, almost 12 miles away. At the time, 99 miners were inside. Over the next few hours, 21 miners escaped the mine, but 78 were still trapped. All who were unable to escape perished; the bodies of 19 of the dead were never recovered. The cause of the explosion was never determined, but the accident catalyzed several new laws passed to protect miners.
TO FIND THIS CACHE you are searching for a small lock-n-lock container located at the Number Nine Memorial; please be respectful when in the area. For this reason, night caching is not recommended. Parking is available at the gate; if closed, follow the path to GZ. Please rehide well to ensure other people who are not searching for the cache will stumble upon it. Thanks for visiting!
Important Note! The gate to the large lot within the memorial grounds is generally locked except for holidays. Parking is available just in front of the locked gate; there is an entrance to the left of the locked gate that allows visitors to walk into the grounds. Please do not crawl under the fence to access the cache. Park and walk to ground zero.
Upon opening the container, you will be greeted with an assortment of SWAG items and a small puzzle-like container in a black pouch. DO NOT REMOVE THE PUZZLE. Below, you will find the key to opening this container which contains the logbook and code word you'll need for your passport. Please be gentle with the puzzle and replace everything back exactly as you found it so the next cacher can have the same experience you did.
Using the names on the monument, count the COLUMN - ROW - WORD - LETTER to solve for the keyword. To make things easier, only the starred names will be used (so if you are counting a name wihtout a star, you're doing something wrong). For names with a middle initial, count those as a full word. A Certitude, while not required, is provided if you would like to check your answer.
3-24-3-7 / 2-17-1-5 / 3-6-1-4 / 1-19-2-2 / 1-21-4-2 / 3-10-3-6
THANKS FOR VISITING!
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