Mason-Dixon Based Caches
Mason-Dixon Based Caches
by MikeOtt, Al Waller, and the Scrapper-ers
Photos from the logs of each cache as posted on www.geocaching.com
Many people think of Mason and Dixon and their "Line" as something that established the boundary between the North and the South. While that is accurate there's a lot more to it than that. The real story of what Mason and Dixon were doing is a lot more involved. How they accomplished their work is an even more fascinating story. Fortunately for Delaware Geocachers, and those who come to Delaware to Geocache, there are several geocaches here in Delaware that help you learn about the work of Mason and Dixon. Not only that, these caches take you to spots where you can see and in some cases touch the actual stone markers placed by Mason and Dixon over 240 years ago.
Our review includes four geocaches and, if you visit all four, you will travel to the Southernmost part of the state, near the Northernmost part of the state and somewhere in-between.
Before we present our review of the four geocache sites it would be helpful to include bit of the history of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon and why their work was needed. They were certainly not setting the boundaries for the state of Delaware even though this was one of the results of their work.
Shown here is a map created by Mason and Dixon. Notice that while New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland are shown there is no Delaware. There is, however a line running down the DelMarVa Peninsula that appears to be the west side of Delaware. There is also a dotted line running west from this line which appears to be the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania. But the round top of Delaware does not show here. Instead there is a strange North/South line running down out of Philadelphia toward the other line. What's going on here?
The short answer is that Mason and Dixon had been employed to put an end to a boundary dispute that raged for one hundred and thirty-three years. It began when the King of England granted overlapping titles to the same land. Cecilius Calvert was given title to this land which he called Maryland. Note that his claim extended east to the Delaware River. William Penn was also given title to this same area as part of the land he would call Pennsylvania. Many years of bloody conflict happened here as each side tried to exert complete control over the area. For a while this was close to warfare. And, yes, settlers did lose their lives as militias forceably removed them from the territory. Finally in 1732 after both Calvert and William Penn had died, the sons of William Penn sought relief from King George of England. An agreement was reached that Pennsylvania would extend southward down the peninsula to the town of Cape Henlopen. At that point a line would be drawn straight across the peninsula. Land below this line would belong to Maryland. Once the length of this line was known the middle of it would be calculated and another line would be drawn northward to mark the east/west boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania. All of this happened well before Mason and Dixon came to the American colonies. Other surveyors drew the trans-peninsula line and calculated the location of the east/west border line.
There is much more to be told about the battles over just how far down the Peninsula that "trans-peninsula" line should be located. There are a number of web sites which tell that story. So we will skip over it and move ahead to 1763 when Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon eminent English mathematicians and astronomers were hired to make sure these lines were in the right place as well as to establish the line which was to become the north/south boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Both men were recognized experts in their field.
Note that neither Mason or Dixon was called by the title surveyor. The tools they used were far different from the type used by surveyors of today. In fact, Mason and Dixon calculated their "coordinates" by taking sightings of the North Star! In essence, they took readings at night by star light then the next day moved along their "course" to a new location and cross checked the accuracy of their work by taking new star sightings on the next clear night. It is a wonder that they were as accurate as they were.
The first work they did was to go to Philadelphia and calculate the starting point for the line which ran down the peninsula The little line shown on their map running out of Philadelphia is the result of this work. Again there is a most interesting story to be leaned regarding how they did this which we will skip. This work took them from January until June 1764 to complete. Once they had marked the spot they headed south to intersect the trans-peninsula line. It took them 4 days to get there. Remember there were no roads in this area in 1764. During July and August 1764 they made their way back to their starting point. Unfortunately when they got there they discovered that they had missed their mark. So they did the whole thing over again. Finally on November 10th they completed the verification of this line with an accuracy which suited them.
At this point it should be noted that Mason and Dixon thought they were drawing this line so that it would touch the side of the round top of the area that would become Delaware. Old maps of Delaware show this mistaken assumption. Later it was learned that the line and the circle did not touch. That mistake created the area called "The Wedge". One of the geocaches reviewed here will take you into "The Wedge".
Now that everyone was satisfied with the accuracy of the line, the marker stones were set. A Reverend John Ewing of Pennsylvania was in charge of this task. Two of the geocaching sites reviewed here will take you to two of these stones. Note these are the real thing - the stones that were placed in 1764 - two hundred forty-four years ago!
While Reverend Ewing and his people were placing the stones Mason and Dixon, meanwhile, had another job to do. They had to determine the line running west that would become the north/south boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania. As before, there is an amazing story to be learned about how they were able to do this which we will skip for now. We will add, though, that it took Mason and Dixon until the 18th of June 1765 to complete this part of their task.
Curiously, even after they finished the creation of this line they were not done. In September of 1765 Mason and Dixon were asked to extend this same line all the way east to the Delaware river. They did. This line extension never became a boundary for anything.
To wrap up this brief history of the work of Mason and Dixon we need to include a story taken from a book published in 1881 by George Johnson. Johnson's book is a 548 page history of Cecil County Maryland that begins with John Smith becoming the first white man to discover the area (Yes the same John Smith who is associated with Pocahontas). Johnson continues his story up to 1880. He notes that the stone used to mark the northeast corner of Maryland had been accidentally broken before it was delivered. It had been repaired by drilling holes in it, putting in steel pins, then filling the holes with molten lead. While the stone didn't look all that good it was out in the middle of nowhere and, besides, who would want to come out here to see it? Here's how Johnson tells the rest of the story.
"A few years after the stone at the northeast corner of the county had been set, the Revolutionary War commenced, and the lead used in mending it, as stated by old residents in that vicinity to the author in his boyhood, was picked out and used for making bullets by the patriots of the Continental army. This stone stood in a small ravine in a meadow, and when the lead was taken away from around the clamps, they fell out and the upper part of the stone fell off, and in a few years the lower part became covered with the earth, which the rains washed into the ravine. Thus the location of the northeast corner of the State of Maryland was involved in obscurity. ... " This stone was considered lost.
In 1849 a group of persons from Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania decided that the location of this "missing" stone was a problem. They wanted to erect a new stone to mark the spot. Amazingly, and perhaps with the aide of "improved" surveying instruments, they went to a spot where they thought the stone should be, dug a hole for the new stone - and hit the remains of the old stone! The new stone was placed in this location and the old stone was buried nearby. One of the geocache sites in this review will take you to see this stone.
The set of four geocache sites in this review give you the unique experience of retracing the footsteps of Mason and Dixon. You will travel county roads and pathways, trek through forests and climb through ravines. While you are seeking these caches let your imagination run away with you. You, lucky geocacher, have your gps and it is loaded with coordinates. But image trying to find these places as Mason and Dixon had to - sight the north star, plot a heading, walk that heading, wait for darkness (and a clear sky) and take a new star reading to see if you went in the right direction. Now imagine no roads and lots and lots of trees and brambles. Since there are still a number of these trees and brambles in place you should have no trouble getting into the proper frame of mind.
When you have found all four of these geocaches, if you still want to follow in the footsteps of Mason and Dixon there are a number of additional Mason and Dixon caches located in Pennsylvania and Maryland. But, since this is the Delaware Geocachers web site, we suggest you check geocaching.com to get information about them.
Our geocache reviews begin at Delaware's southern border, moves north along Delaware's western border, and ends with 2 caches in northern Delaware where Mason and Dixon set the stage for the creation of the line that became known as the Mason-Dixon line.
Mason-Dixon-A3
(GC2DC) by Al Waller/owner miuwu Placed 2/18/2001
This cache was reviewed previously as part of the 10 oldest Delaware geocaches. As you can see from the low waypoint number and from the creation date, this cache has been in place for more than 6 years.
The cache container is NOT in or on this shelter but it is within walking distance. Your gps should have an easy time directing you to this location but keep your eyes open. This shelter sits off the road a bit. It is easy to drive right by and not even see it.
There is limited parking right at this spot. We highly recommend taking a few minutes before trying to find the cache container to visit at this shelter.
Inside the shelter you will see several stones. The tallest stone is the "Mason-Dixon" marker. We'll leave it to you to find out what those other stones are. Look closely and you'll see several interesting things regarding this stone.
First is the markings on the sides of the stone. There are different markings on each side. There are no state names or even state letters. Remember at the time this stone was placed the concept of "States" had not occurred to anyone. These territories were the land holdings of two important and powerful men - William Penn and The Duke of York. (memory quiz time - his real name was noted earlier in this review - Duke of York is his title)
Look close at the top of this stone. There is an object that looks like a benchmark. No, this benchmark is not 240 years old - that distinction belongs to the stone. It is rather hard to read this benchmark since you must stay outside of the iron fencing. Still, this benchmark functions as all other benchmarks it gives the coordinates for this location and marks north. We'll leave it to you to discover who placed this here and when they did it.
Now lets go looking for that geocache.
As noted, the cache is within walking distance of the shelter. As an experienced geocacher you can probably take a look around and make a very good guess where it will be. Still use your gps. With all this open sky it should lock onto a strong signal and lead you right to it.
Don't forget about muggles. Even though this area doesn't seem to get a lot of foot traffic you never can tell when a car load of folks might come by. And, since this area is wide open you won't be able to hide behind anything to make the find or to examine the contents of the container. Please be sure to hide the container as well as you can when you are finished.
Before you leave this area let you mind go back about 240 years and try to image what this spot looked like. Are there any trees here that could date back that far? Did the forrest off in the distance continue over to here and beyond?
And then think about this, you are standing on the intersection of two important lines. The trans-peninsula line is running across this field now marking the southern boundary of Delaware. Two centuries ago it marked where Pennsylvania ended and Maryland began. Delaware Hiker in the picture above is standing on the trans-peninsula line. Walk around to the side that shows the shadow in this picture and you will be standing on the north/south line that 240 years ago marked the eastern boundary of Maryland. The other territory was still Pennsylvania. It would be several more years before Penn's 3 Lower Counties on the Delaware would break away from Pennsylvania and claim this land as Delaware.
Now take just one more moment to do some more imagining. This time you only need to let you imagination run back 6 years. Geocaching was less than a year old. There were only 3 geocaches in the entire state of Delaware. Two of them were here in Sussex County, the other was way up in New Castle County. Where should the 4th geocache go? If you were Al Waller you picked this place. Do you think this spot looked much different 6 years ago? You might be surprised.
Northwest fork - Delaware C.A.C.H.E - Hundred
(GC10P2X) by Delaware Geocaching and scrapple-ers Placed 1/31/2007
Mike Ott, who appreciates historical sites and information, supplied this image of the historical marker near part 1 of this multi geocache. It tells the story of this area quite well. Recall that quiz that was in the review of Mason-Dixon-A3? Here's another big hint as to the family name of the Duke of York.
Notice that Reverend Ewing's contribution was left out of this information. But you, having read the first part of this article, know what he did.
This cache was placed as one of the 24 Cache Around The Delaware Hundreds Event caches by the geocachers scrappler-ers who, conveniently, live in Sussex County. It is about 15 north of the Mason-Dixon-A3 cache so the stone found here, like the one at the previous cache, has the coat of arms for the Calvert and Penn families on the two sides. But unlike the previous cache, the stone at this one is not inside a shelter.
This vinyl fence is all that protects this 240 year old stone from damage or vandalism. Looking at this picture you can see some damage has already happened to this fence. What you don't see it that each corner post is a sleeve fitted over a short section of 4x4. You also don't see that this stone sits right by the side of a curved section of road. Anyone taking this curve at too high a speed could easily destroy this stone. Let's hope this doesn't happen.
Take a look at this stone. Despite being out here in all kinds of weather for more than 240 years it has held up remarkably well. Notice how detailed he markings are. Quoting George Johnson from his history of Cecil County, "These stones were procured in England, and are of the formation known as oolite, which probably has a greater capacity to resist the action of the weather than any other stone that it would have been practicable to have obtained. Though they have been exposed to the action of the elements for more than a century, they have not been injured in the least".
Mr. Johnson was quite right. As you can see, after almost two and a half centuries these stones are holding up quite well. As one of the visitors to this geocache noted in his log, when you touch this stone you can feel this history. Before you start your quest for the container hidden here giving the coordinates to the 2nd part of this multi cache, do as suggested at cache #1. Try to imagine Mason and Dixon and their crews standing at this location 240 years ago. What might it have looked like then? Then try to image Mason and Dixon having to find this place a second time when their previous survey indicated that they had been off a bit. Now it's time to find the container hidden here.
It is NOT on the stone or on any part of the fence. As with cache #1 experienced geocachers will have a good idea where to look but you'll need to really look sharp. It is not camoed but it will be easy to look right at it and not see it. When you find it you will need to hand enter these newly discovered coordinates into your gps then have your gps compute a driving route to the final hiding place.
Here we see geocacher AZDawg on what appears to be a really nice walking path. He is holding the cache container so this one has got to be an easy find. Right? Not so...
The first order of business once you have driven to the parking coordinates is to figure out how to get to this nice walking path. You can't see it from the parking place. If you rely on your gps at this point you'll be doing some nasty bushwacking. And, as you can see, it will not have been necessary.
The hike to the cache is about 3/4 of a mile from the parking coordinates if you find and take the path AZDawg is showing you.
As you can see, there is unlimited overhead visibility. Your gps should have no problem locking onto a strong signal. A bit of personal advice comes next. When my wife and I found this trail we started walking so rapidly that we outran our gps. We watched the gps map show that we were approaching the hide area then register that we were at the hiding place. We stopped to look around and saw our gps map flip around to indicate that we had passed the hiding place about 30 feet back! So, while this is an easy walking path, take your time. Enjoy the view. Listen to the river and the sounds of nature and let your gps confidently guide you to the hiding spot.
As you can see geocacher coyboysfan had to watch where he was walking once he headed for the hiding spot. This picture is not really at the hiding spot but it does represent the kind of terrain you would have encountered if you had decided to to that bushwacking run for the cache.
As already noted this cache was placed as one of 24 caches for the special Cache Around The Colonial Hundreds Event by the scrapple-ers. That event is now over but this cache will remain in place. You'd think it would be easy to find a bright blue can in such an open area. The scrappler-ers know how to hide 'em. They have created a great cache that gives you an opportunity to get up close to a 240 year artifact and then to hike the area somewhat like Mason and Dixon did here all those years ago.
Mason Dixon Started Here
(GCF18F) by MikeOtt Placed 4/2/2003
This cache marks two historic events. First, and most obvious, it the placement of a very important Mason Dixon marker. Second, and not as obvious, is that this cache is the first cache created by Mike Ott head of the Delaware Geocachers group. As you can see from the date above this cache is a little over 4 years old. The marker is a lot older but not quite as old as the markers that are part of the first two caches reviewed in this article.
In the description he provided on geocaching.com Mike gives a very brief history of how Mason and Dixon came to place this marker stone and provides "extra" coordinates which will lead you to it. Note: this means the hidden container is NOT at this stone site. If you follow the published coordinates for the geocache site you will miss seeing this important historical marked. Since you are so close to it when you find the cache, that would be a shame.
The cache, and the marker are located in the vast White Clay Creek State Park. This park spans both Delaware and Pennsylvania. You will be searching in one of the Delaware sections.
Mike has provided parking suggestions that also have some historical significance. He suggests you enter White Clay Creek State Park via a road called "9 foot road". This road is Delaware's only surviving one-lane concrete road. It will lead you to Thompson's Station Road. where you will find parking space.
Mike notes that the round trip will be a 2 mile hike. He also recommends staying with the trails. You'll find the first of these just across from the Thompson's Station Parking area.
When geocacher foolcircle went for this cache he discovered this farmhouse along the way. You may or may not see it. If you think that 2 mile hike is too much for you, there is an alternate parking place and entrance off Paper Mill road. Mike doesn't say how much shorter this option is. He also calls this 2nd approach "uninteresting".
A few facts about White Clay Creek State Park: This is a State Park. Deer Hunting is permitted here for one week each during November, December and January. Hunting is not permitted on Sundays during these weeks.
All Delaware State Parks charge admission between May and October. The fee is $3 per car for Delaware tagged vehicles or $6 per car for non-Delaware tagged vehicles. It is also possible to purchase a season pass to all the State Parks at the park office. Since there are a number of geocaches located in State Parks throughout Delaware you might consider investing in one of these. And, if you are a Delaware resident senior-citizen, you can purchase a lifetime pass to all Delaware State Parks.
Note the the season pass is for one vehicle. the lifetime pass is for the person. If the person owning the lifetime pass is either the driver or a passenger in a vehicle entering the park everyone in this vehicle can enter for free.
The picture that opened this review might have given you the impression that this W stone was rather tall. Here we see geocacher Programmer64 standing next to it. This helps you get an idea of the real size of this stone.
Now let's get back to a bit more of the history of this stone.
You might want to scroll back up to the top of this article to look at the Mason Dixon map again. The important feature this time is that line running down out of Philadelphia.
Mason and Dixon had determined the southernmost spot in Philadelphia. The old agreement stipulated that the northern border of Maryland would be 15 miles further south from this Philadelphia point. So Mason and Dixon drew the 15 mile line. But it didn't make any sense to draw it coming down out of Philadelphia since it was also known that Maryland's eastern border was at the mid point of the trans-peninsula line. Mason and Dixon moved 31 miles west from the point they had discovered in Philadelphia (thinking that this would get them closer in line with Maryland's eastern border) and drew their 15 mile line due south. That's what you see on the their map. At the end of this line they placed the W stone.
Mike Ott's next cache will take you to the spot where Mason and Dixon thought they matched up with the eastern border line (also called the "transit" line).
To wrap this portion of this review we need to include this picture. It, too, has historic significance. It shows geocachers Howie57 and Squirrly at Mike Ott's first geocache hide. Howie57 is the person who first gathered together Delaware Geocachers forming the group that grew into the organization we are today.
MASON DIXON Part 2 Moving West
(GCG4QT) by MikeOtt Placed 5/18/2003
Our final geocache covered in this review is also by Mike Ott.It too is in White Clay Creek State Park. You might consider doing both of these geocaches while you are here but you'd need to drive over to this one unless you want to do a LOT of walking. First, this cache is about 2 miles west of Mike's "Mason Dixon Started Here". Second, this cache is a 5 part multi that will take you on a circuit of at least 3 miles.
This 3 mike hike will give you a good idea of the kind of terrain Mason and Dixon had to deal with while preparing to create the line which would become the de facto North/South separation line. But you, having read the other parts of this review, know that this line's real purpose was just to mark the northern boundary of Maryland so that the limits of territories of Maryland and Pennsylvania would finally be settled.
Mike has posted a detailed geocache description on geocaching.com for this cache. It would be a good idea to print out a copy and take it with you on your quest. One of the first things he notes is that there is "private property where trespassing is prohibited ...close to the cache route." He also lets you know that you'll be passing back and forth between Delaware and Pennsylvania on your trek.
This multi is also part puzzle cache. At each stop you'll be counting something or searching for a number on a sign. While this may sound easy Mike adds a challenge for each task. For example, at one spot you "come to a fancy pedestrian bridge ... look closely at the large wooden supports that are still left from when this was a road." Mike has you count these supports and reminds you that you need to include the supports "the pedestrian bridge sits on". How's that for a bit of extra challenge. But there's more.
At one point Mike leads you along a trail where there is a fallen tree that "severely block the trail... you will have to loop left around the tree. So disregard your gps for a while, get around this obstacle, then resume your trek. At stops 4 you reach the stone shown in the first picture in this review. But Mike's description stated there were 5 stops. And there is. The final stop is almost evil
You need to cross a bridge, which you have to spot, and find a benchmark! For those who are not familiar with benchmarks there are 3 inch round brass plates set in concrete at ground level. You are searching in a forested area. Chances are quite good that this benchmark will be covered by leaves, branches or even brambles. You'd better find it, though, because it contains the last digit you'll need to compute the coordinates for the final hide.
For those of you whose gps doesn't do well in areas with a lot of overhead coverage you might want to try this one in the early spring or the fall/winter.
With this geocache Mike has provided you with an experience that mimics that of Mason and Dixon. But recall that those two explorers weren't looking for stones or benchmarks that were already there, they were looking the exact spot on this earth where these items should be placed. And they were doing it using star sightings as their guide. It is understandable that they made a slight mistake. You are standing in it.
This is the area called "The Wedge". After all the surveying was done and then checked it was discovered that the tangent line really didn't match up with the round top of the area that was to become Delaware. The line was off by about 2 miles. This was corrected by extending the west line back eastward until it did touch the arc. But the arc continued southward and eventually did touch the tangent line. It just didn't do this where it was supposed to happened. The result was the creation of a wedge shaped piece of property (about 800 acres) that stayed under dispute until the 1920s. There's a fascinating history for this part of Delaware to be discovered but like other parts of this review we are going to skip over it too.
We should add that Mike has a Part 3 to this series. It takes you even further west into Maryland to find a marker that is in an open field.
This article has presented a review of four geocache sites associated with Mason Dixon markers. It has presented some of the history of these men and their deeds but has skipped over much of it. If you became interested in this or even just curious you are reminded that there are a number of additional Mason Dixon geocaches throughout Maryland and Pennsylvania. To find them use the Hide and Seek a Cache feature on geocaching.com. Scroll down to the area where you enter a key word and type in Mason Dixon. You'll get back an interesting list.
If you'd like to know more about Mason and Dixon and their work try Google. You'll be amazed at the number of hits that are returned. Some of them are quite scholarly and some have been done by folks with a keen interest in this topic. All make good reading.
There's one more area regarding Mason and Dixon that might capture you interest. We here in Delaware are lucky enough to have a number of the original stones still in there original locations. In this review we've indicated our concern for the safety of these historical objects. The fact is a lot of the original stones are missing. Some were taken years and years ago. Some were just "in the way" when an area that was formerly wilderness became developed property. Some were taken to museums. Many just vanished.
There is project underway now to try to locate and restore as many of these stones as possible. This same project seeks to protect those that are still in their original location. If this topic captures your interest you can find out more at the web site : http://www.btco.net/ghosts/oddsends/masondixon/masondixon.html.