Party like it’s 1776 with the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area’s 250th GeoTour! Designed for beginner and veteran geocachers, participants will travel through time, solving puzzles and following clues to learn more about central and western Maryland’s rich history. In honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States, our 250th GeoTour will take you throughout Carroll, Frederick, and Washington Counties to sites of historical significance, including battlefields, houses of worship, museums, parks, and more!
DAYLIGHT HOURS ONLY! Please do not attempt this cache at night.
Please send your answers to the following questions. You do not need to wait for a response to log your find. You may submit answers as a group. If you are submitting a group answer, please include the usernames of all cachers in your group.
Questions:
1- Find a piece of sandstone showing oxidation on the Jug Bridge Monument. Describe the oxidation. Does the red color look uniform across that whole piece of stone or is it more concentrated in a certain section?
2- Now turn to the General Lafayette memorial stone. How does the oxidation compare on this stone compare to the one you observed on the Jug Bridge Monument?
3- Take a closer look at the texture and composition of both pieces of stone and compare them. How does the appearance (color, grain size, etc) and texture of the Jug Bridge stone you chose compare to that of the Lafayette stone?
4- Based on your observations, do you believe the stone used for the General Lafayette memorial is also Seneca Red sandstone? Why or why not?
5- Take a photo at the posted coordinates. You do not need to show your face, however the picture needs to be something distinctive to prove you visited the location (thumbs up, personal item, your username on a piece of paper, etc). If you are taking a group photo, please provide the usernames for everyone in the group.
The Location:
This Earthcache will bring you to the Jug Bridge Monument and memorial commemorating Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette's visit to Frederick in 1824.
Built in 1808, the stone Jug Bridge stood at 425 feet long and 65 feet high over the Monocacy River as part of the National Road, earning its nickname from the ornamental "jug" on the eastern side. In 1942, the bridge suffered a partial collapse. Temporarily repaired until a new bridge was built nearby, the Jug Bridge was finally demolished in 1944.
On December 29, 1824, the 67-year old Marquis de Lafayette visited the city of Frederick. Hero of the Revolutionary War and protege of George Washington, Lafayette was the final living general from the Continental Army when he embarked on his trip from his native France for a 14 month tour of the United States. During his tour, he would visit each of the then-24 states in the US. When he arrived in Frederick, he crossed the Jug Bridge and made a speech in the spot you are standing now, welcomed by many onlookers and fellow Revolutionary War veterans. General Lafayette would remain in Frederick for two days until continuing south to Washington.
In 1926, a local chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution placed a large piece of stone with a commemorative plaque attached at the location of General Lafayette's speech 102 years earlier. Although the nearby Jug Bridge was demolished in 1944, the stone jug was saved and later placed in the same park next to the Lafayette memorial stone in 1965, where it remains to this day. Local legend states, due to it's shape resembling a whiskey jug, that the architect placed an actual bottle of whiskey inside the stone sculpture.
Sandstone:
Sandstone is an extremely common sedimentary rock, drawing it's name from sandy sediments and other minerals that were deposited and compressed in layers over time. The sediments most commonly found in sandstone are quartz and feldspar. Sandstone comes in a wide variety of colors such as white, gray, yellow, and red, all dependent upon the types of minerals and sediment found in that particular sand.
Oxidation:
Oxidation occurs when the element iron comes into contact with oxygen. When found in stones, this is normally caused through a process called chemical weathering, where the minerals are slowly eroded away by rain, exposing the iron that had been previously protected to oxygen. When iron is oxidized, it turns a very distinct red-orange color commonly referred to as rust. This oxidation can also have taken place when the iron was originally deposited in a location, eventually being buried under further layers of sediment.
Seneca Creek Red Sandstone:
South of this location near the town of Poolesville, MD, the Seneca Creek Quarry drew it's name from its location near that body of water just off the north bank of the Potomac River, beginning operation sometime in the late 18th century. The sandstone from Seneca Creek became renowned in this region of the US for its fine grain, uniformity, durability and distinctive red color. Seneca red sandstone was used in many projects, most notably in the construction of the Smithsonian Castle in Washington DC in 1849. If you have ever visited the National Mall in DC, you cannot miss the Castle, with it being easily one of the most distinctive buildings in the city. However, when construction began, it was not the striking red color you see today. According to reports at the time, the Seneca sandstone was actually more of a lilac or purplish-gray at first, eventually changing to the color we know today as the iron in the stone was exposed to the elements and oxidized.
Sources:
https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/ks3/gsl/education/resources/rockcycle/page3564.html
https://geology.com/rocks/sandstone.shtml
https://rocksminerals.flexiblelearning.auckland.ac.nz/rocks/sandstone.html
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/jug-bridge-monument
https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/298ecaa8-3d0e-44d1-a11b-e0f6cfb4043d/content
Thanks for the City of Frederick Parks Division for permission to place this cache.