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I turn from the fountain and throw in a coin.
Over my left shoulder, before it's purloined.
The hope is that it will bring me luck of ages.
So my life improves in quicker stages.
Items to trade. BYOP There is no need to leave a coin but a need to find the cache! Rehide to same position please.
This facility has served the community for over 60 years and was actually built in 1880 as a residence for Orrin M. and Hannah Sprague Hawes. When built, it was a fine example of the Italianate style of architecture, which was very popular at the time. Mr. and Mrs. Hawes had been married in New York State, moving to this area after the Civil War. For years, he was a successful farm equipment salesman . He was described as being very interested in public affairs, especially those that benefited the Norwalk community.
Orrin owned a fine black driving horse and would race anyone who was willing. He and a neighbor were racing down East Main Street on April 1, 1893, when Mr. Hawes’ buggy came in contact with another buggy, throwing both drivers out. Hawes suffered a concussion and was carried into a nearby home, where he died April 5, 1893, at the age of 56.
Mrs. Hawes lived on in her fine home until her death in 1908. The property then passed to her daughter, Bertene, who had married Harry B. Conklin. As a young man, Mr. Conklin had worked for the Sprague Umbrella Factory, which stood about a quarter-mile east of the Hawes House and was owned by James Sprague, a brother to Mrs. Hannah Hawes.
In 1948, the Conklins sold the old Homestead and on February 5, 1949, the Earl M. Kubach Funeral Home opened. Since that time, this home has been a funeral home under several different owners. The site of the funeral home is one of the oldest occupied home sites in the area. Prior to the Hawes home construction, David Gibbs built a wooden house here around the year 1824, where the land was inherited by his wife, Elizabeth, from her father, Stephen Lockwood, an original Fire Sufferer in Connecticut. The Gibbs house was moved to 5 South Old State Road in 1880 and still stands.
Pruden Alling, a Gibbs son-in-law, occupied the old house for years and gave the East Main and Old State intersection the name of “Allings Corners”, and thus it was known in the days before named and numbered roads. Well into the 20th century one could hear senior citizens refer to “Allings Corners”, but today the name is no longer used.
1893 was a sad time for the Hawes family, but in August of that year they must have been cheered to see the interurban cars of the Sandusky, Milan and Norwalk Electric Railway running out East Main from Norwalk and then turning north on Old State. At the time, this was the longest interurban line in the world.
The Hawes House rests on the sand ridge, which runs for several miles northeast to southwest. This ridge is an ancient shore of a lake created when the glaciers melted in prehistoric times. Today this lake has receded into what is now Lake Erie. If we were to dig down in this ridge we might find fossils and petrified wood indicative of aquatic life here eons ago.
Signature items to trade. If the parking lot has many cars parked, be aware of the reason for their presence and permission is granted to complete the find. Please rehide to the same position. Late night Geocachers might concern Muggles, so please daylight ours only. Happy geocaching!
***Congratulations to WHOBDAH for being the FTF!***
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Lrnef unir cnffrq naq nqqvgvbaf unir orra znqr, va n terra ebhaq ohfu gur pnpur unf orra ynvq.