GCZYV5 Nightmare on Elm Street (Traditional Cache) in Kentucky, United States created by Blue&Gray

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GCZYV5 ▼

A cache by Blue&Gray Message this owner

Hidden : 12/24/2006

Difficulty:

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Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

If you dream about DNF's, this cache may give you

This micro is located on Elm Street in Pikeville, KY, near a historic home that is rumored to be haunted. Don't fear, however; you do NOT have to go on the property to find the cache.

Steps Leading to the Mansion

A BIT OF HISTORY
The Augusta Dils York Mansion in Pikeville symbolizes the culmination of countless generations of plain-spoken people whose dedication to family and God caused many moves to protect self and system. Whether they were German or Dutch is debatable, but what they passed down over generations of thorough synthesis was firm dedication to hard work and structure; plus priceless causes for religion and human rights. The first Dils (Diltz) families found in America were located in New Jersey. Adam and Heinrich were naturalized in 1744, along with many others. Descendants subesquently migrated to Pennsylvania and then to Parkersburg (WV) in 1798. John Dils, Jr. arrived in Piketon (later renamed Pikeville in 1881) about fifteen years after men named Justice and Bevins demanded and got secession from Floyd County to annex Pike County in 1821.

One of John's daugters, Augusta (b. 1848), married James M. York on July 17, 1875, in one of the most impressive wedding ceremonies of the day. James and Augusta built the first of their homes on Main Street. With its stained glass entry and domed tower, it was the most elaborate place in the area for that antebellum period, surpassing even her father's nearby home. (Note the "York" name on the gate at the Main Street house, as shown below.)

The York House on Main Street

Sometime around 1911 Augusta began to meditate on her "house of a lifetime" while sitting alone on a favorite cliff overlooking College Street. Her house needed to be on a hill, visible from all over town, to be impressive. In spite of the number of potential locations, she kept coming back to the lot she preferred. It would cost a fortune to build there but it would certainly help her achieve her objective. On a cloudy December morning she chose her sandstone bluff on Elm Street as the site for her new home. She had mental images of medieval stories of knights and castles as she conceived the house that would occupy a lot that was said to have been an Indian holy ground.

Another reason for her choice was that her aging, now-judge husband, James, needed to be "less available" to the townspeople. With the new house, they would be able to stand at the window and observe in advance when to answer the door.

She built a cardboard model of her future home. She and James took the tiny cardboard mansion to New York and engaged the architectural services of W.J. Griffith Co. to finalize the blueprints. Her intentions were to make a college degree statement - that there were indeed people of high standards in the area. In 1922, with the house well under roof, daughter Tot married Thomas L. Creekmore. When sufficient work had been completed on the house, the Yorks moved into the basement so that Augusta could be nearby to oversee the work and the Creekmores moved into the house on Main Street.

A HAUNTED HOUSE?
By 1933, Augusta had spent $99,000 on the home - a very large sum for the time. The aging Jim York passed away. Never recovering from the loss of her beloved husband, Augusta died in 1934. Tom and Tot Ruth Creekmore became the owners of the mansion and York daughter Bess acquired the house on Main Street. Tot died c. 1964. Heavy stock market losses and gambling losses took their toll on Tom's financial well-being. He lost almost everything except the depleted mansion. He died in 1983 in Augusta's mansion. The inheritance of the house stayed in the York lineage.

An air of mystery began to develop around the mansion, possibly due to the years of the Creekmores' seclusion and/or the isolation of the Yorks in their later years. Tom Creekmore had refused to repair the house. He grew to hate it. It symbolized him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The closed doors of both the York (Creekmore) mansion and Bess' home on Main Street became more and more of an enigma. Soon the speculation and whispers turned to perceived truth. Both houses were considered by some to be haunted due to the minimal activity at each house.

After the death of Tom in 1983, the house stood alone, watching the progress of the area, waiting for someone to dispel the rumors and untruths of ghostly occupants and to be accepted as a wonderful addition to the county, a reminder of successful, trailblazing, historical patterns that Augusta and her judge wanted it to be.

Source: From Blennerhassett Island to the Augusta Dils York Mansion by I. June Johnson

The cache can be retrieved from the sidewalk. There is no need to go onto the property. Stealth would be helpful. Please be respectful of the property and structures. There is no need to try to remove any of the rocks that comprise the wall. BYOP.

You may be able to find parking at: N 37 28.645 W 082 31.311

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

nccebk sbegl-svsgl sg sebz fgrcf; Cvax Syblq znl guvax "...vg'f whfg nabgure pnpur va gur ________"

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)

This cache has been archived.

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Nightmare on Elm Street Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

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Geocache Description:

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