Town Hill Tour Mystery Cache
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A puzzle cache for kids and/or history buffs.
I placed this cache to commemorate my first 100 finds, and to share some of the history of the town I live in. It took my professional kid testers less than ½ hour to complete. Thanks Shelbea and Kriston - you‘re a great team! Stealth required! The coordinates above are NOT for the final cache, but for the parking. You will find the clues to get the final as you work on the puzzle. Take the numbers you find at each stop and replace the letters in the following formula to find the final cache. FINAL: N 42 AB.CDE W 072 FG.HIJ Unfortunately it’s not a very winter-friendly hide - the numbers you need to find are all on the ground, so if there’s more than a foot of snow you may have to try again in the spring. Such is life in Vermont. 
First, a brief history lesson: On the seventh day of January, 1767, a petition was presented to the lieutenant governor of New York by Nathan Whiting and twelve others for the grant of a township covering a portion of the territory then known as Cumberland. After much delay and a re-petition on March 12, 1770, the final grantees were seven British soldiers, Colonel Whiting and six others, who received the grant as a reward for their fidelity in the King's service. The township, 36 square miles, thus granted and chartered was named Whitingham. The first census in 1771 reported a population of 14, increasing to 1,177 in 1900 and after some decline increased again to the 1,177 in 1990. The town was first settled (like Wilmington and many others) on top of the highest hill. All that remains now is a nice community park, with lots of stone markers to show where the original buildings were. And oh yeah, a really BIG marker for our very own Mr. Brigham Young. So here is the puzzle… Enjoy the tour! START - You are at the parking coordinates. Look to the East and you will see the first stone marker. Go to the Militia Training Ground marker. 2. Walk 50 paces to the North (about 120 ft.) Note the numbers on this stone. The second digit =B, the last digit = F. 3. Turn to the West and walk 35 paces to the “Spyhole Stone“. Kneel down, or get a kid to look straight through the hole - what animal do you see? Go give him a pat., then take the last two letters of his name, look in that direction. How many arches do you see? Add 2 to that number and you will have E. There is a School marker near here also. 4. Now turn to the South, and walk straight to the next big stone maker past the climbing dome. The last digit in both dates = C. 5. From here, cross the road to the SW, and find the Cap't. Winn house stone near the Town Hill Plaque, you will look for the third digit in the first date, that =A. Take a minute to appreciate the view that Cap't. Winn enjoyed, before the trees all grew in. 6. Now you need to find the Baptist Church marker to the East, next to the nearest dirt driveway. See the double digit? Put that into I and J. 7. From here - take a stroll South across the baseball field to the biggest manmade thing you see. Find the dates listed, and note the 2nd digit in all of them. This = H. 8. Now turn back to the North, and keep walking until you find the Academy stone. The last digit in both dates =D. 9. The final number for the cache coordinates is: the first digit in ALL the dates you have found = G. Once you have all the numbers, go find the Final Prize, and enjoy! FINAL CACHE: Regular size lok-n-lok.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
gerr irr