Note:
This virtual cache is in the Middlesex Center Cemetery in Middlesex, Vermont. Please be respectful of the area, and avoid interfering with ceremonies and maintenance going on when you visit. Access to the area in winter months may be limited depending on how snow plowing is handled. The cemetery is off limits between dusk and dawn.
Innovators with Vermont Ties:
Vermonters have a history of associations with technical innovations. Examples include:
- Samuel Morey lived in Fairlee when he invented the first paddle-wheel steamer. He is also credited with inventing the first documented internal combustion engine in the United States.
- Thomas Davenport was born in Williamstown. He became a blacksmith in Brandon where he invented the first American direct current electric motor in 1834.
- Isaac Fischer Jr. of Springfield patented a process for making sandpaper in 1834. His innovation significantly improved the efficiency of sanding processes in the woodworking and metalworking industries.
- Gardner S. Blodgett of Burlington invented the cast iron cooking oven 1848.
- John Deere was born in Rutland, attended Middlebury College, and worked as a blacksmith in Middlebury, Burlington, Vergennes, and Leicester before moving to Illinois where he invented the first cast steel plow. This steel plow was a major advancement that substantially reduced the effort required by farmers working the heavy soils of the prairies. His advancement was inspired by memories of how he polished needles in sand when he worked at his father's tailor shop in Rutland.
- Elisha Otis, born in Halifax, invented a safety device to prevent elevators from falling should their hoisting cables fail.
- Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley of Jericho was a pioneer in the field of micro-photography and photographed more than 5,000 patterns of snowflakes starting in 1885.
- Thaddeus Fairbanks of St. Johnsbury invented many items including the iron plow, the platform scale, and the process for artificial refrigeration among others. Fairbanks received 43 patents before his death in 1886.
- Charles Orvis was living in Manchester in 1874 when he patented a new design for fly fishing reels.
- Jake Burton Carpenter helped invent the snowboard in Londonderry in 1977.
The Humble Clothespin:
This virtual cache calls attention to once common household items involving Vermonters and their ingenuity. Apparently, up until the 19th century, people draped wet laundry on bushes, tree limbs, or lines without any fastenings to keep things from blowing off in a breeze. The first clothespins used to address the issue were single pieces of wood having two prongs. The prongs could be spread to attach laundry by the squeezing action allowed by the wood's natural tendency to return to its pre-spread state.
In 1853, Springfield resident, David Smith, invented a clothespin consisting of two prongs connected at a fulcrum point and having a spring between the two prongs. Pinching the prongs at the spring end compressed the spring which opened the other ends of the prongs. Attaching the open clothespin and a piece of laundry to a line or branch and then releasing the prongs caused the spring to expand thus forcing the clothespin to close tightly on the laundry and line or branch. This made the laundry less likely to fall as wind speeds increased.
In 1887, Solon Moore of Swanton improved on Smith's design by using a coiled wire spring to close the jaws acting as the spring and the fulcrum. This is the modern design of the clothespin as we (at least of a certain age) know it today. This design was cost effective to manufacture making mass production feasible.
Vermont and its capital, Montpelier, in particular, quickly became what The New York Times called "The Silicon Valley of Clothespin Manufacturing" in a 2012 retrospective. The United States Clothespin Company (U.S.C. Co.) opened in 1887 to manufacture Moore's improved design. Vermonter Stephen Thomas served as company president, and the company enjoyed a significant success in spite of the competitors that rapidly sprang up in Waterbury and other places.
In 1909, Allan Moore, a U.S.C. Co. employee, developed a process that reduced manufacturing costs by eliminating one of the coils in the spring fulcrum. He left the company, got a loan from a local entrepreneur, and opened a competing factory across the street from the U.S.C. Co. building. The new National Clothespin Company's sales quickly outpaced those of the U.S.C. Co.
Over time, cheaper foreign imports and the invention of electric clothes dryers diminished domestic demand. U.S.C. Co. closed before the close of the 1940s.
The National Clothespin Company, which had moved from its original location across the street and had been sold to a new owner, managed to stay in business by virtue of a contract with the F. W. Woolworth department store chain but eventually stopped production because of cheaper imports. The last American-manufactured clothespin came off the production line in 2009.
What to do to claim a find:
This cache remembers this piece of Vermont history by inviting you to visit the final resting place of W. Jack Crowell, the last owner of the National Clothespin Company.
Appropriately enough, a stone clothespin tops his grave stone. Rumor has it that he wanted an actual spring so that the pin would work.
To claim find a find here,
- Find the Crowell clothespin gravestone at the posted coordinates.
- Post a photo of you, your device, or some object identifying your caching id with the gravestone. Include the photo in your log entry.
- Message us what it inscribed on the small rectangular stone at the base of the gravestone immediately to the west (toward Center Rd.) of the Crowell stone.
Go ahead and post your log and photo. We'll contact you if there are issues with what you supply.
References:
There are other references one can find by searching the internet. Many that we used cannot be posted here since they link to websites containing commercial advertising which cannot be used per Groundspeak guidelines.
Virtual Rewards 5.0 - 2026-2027
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between February 3, 2026 and February 3, 2027. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 5.0 on the Geocaching Blog.
Congratulations to mwein for being FTF!