2020-06-04: More Geocaching Through the Backroads of Georgia Counties and a Confederate P.O.W. Camp

So on this second day of our roadtrip through the backroads of Georgia, on our way to North Carolina, we still didn't get very far. After nine hours we've barely gone 200 miles from where we started this morning. Also, we only managed to find 6 geocaches located in 4 new geocaching counties. However we did find a 20 year old geocache that was hidden way back in June 2000! There were a lot of cool historical sites on the agenda today. Let's go for a drive and do some sightseeing...

Our first stop was a virtual geocache (GCGMJY) in Andersonville, Georgia. The Andersonville National Historic Site began as a stockade built about 18 months before the end of the Civil War to hold Union Army prisoners captured by Confederate soldiers. This location became the deadliest ground of the Civil War. Nearly 13,000 men died on these grounds.

Located deep behind Confederate lines, the 26.5-acre Camp Sumter (named for the south Georgia county it occupied) was designed for a maximum of 10,000 prisoners. At its most crowded, it held more than 32,000 men, many of them wounded and starving, in horrific conditions with rampant disease, contaminated water, and only minimal shelter from the blazing sun and the chilling winter rain. In the prison's 14 months of existence, some 52,000 Union prisoners arrived here; of those, 12,920 died and were buried in a cemetery created just outside the prison walls. Conditions were so bad here that the residents of the town of Americus, 10 miles to the south, often complained of the smell blowing in their direction.

The stockade was designed in this location with the theory that a small creek passing through the middle would provide fresh drinking water upstream as it entered at the higher elevation. The lower elevation would be used as a latrine downstream and flush sewage out as the water flow exited the camp. Inadvertently, the prison was designed for death. Stockade posts slowed the drainage, and during dry spells the creek was more of a stagnant swamp than flowing stream. Dysentery swept through the camp. Overcrowding soon fouled the water, and the sluggish current failed to wash sewage out of the prison. The stream's bacteria quickly became lethal.

Today, Andersonville National Historic Site comprises three distinct components: the former site of Camp Sumter military prison; the Andersonville National Cemetery, where veterans continue to be buried today; and the National Prisoner of War Museum, which opened in 1998, and serves as a memorial to all American prisoners of war.

The cemetery site serving Camp Sumter was established as Andersonville National Cemetery on July 26, 1865. By 1868, the cemetery held the remains of more than 13,800 Union soldiers whose bodies had been retrieved after their deaths in hospitals, battles, or prison camps throughout the region. Andersonville National Cemetery has been used continuously since its founding and currently averages over 150 burials a year. The cemetery and associated prison site became a unit of the National Park System in 1970.

These six graves were deliberately set apart among the others. These six prisoners were buried with dishonor. Only enlisted soldiers were held at Andersonville. With no Union officers to maintain order, life in the pen became anarchy. A gang known as the Raiders roamed the prison yard, bullying, robbing, and even murdering other prisoners. Eventually, with the blessing of Commandant Wirz, the prisoners formed a police squad called the Regulators and arrested the Raiders. Before their execution, the six Raider leaders were court-martialed by their peers. Confederates provided lumber for the gallows, which was erected near the prison's South Gate. The remaining Raiders were forced to run a gauntlet formed by their fellow prisoners.

After nearly 2 hours of wandering the grounds, looking at all the large state monuments and memorials, the stockade walls, displays and information boards, and just taking it all in, it was time to get back on the road.

From there we went to another historical virtual geocache (GCGVRY). The town of Americus, Georgia plays a part in aviation history. From the statue and historical marker at the Jimmy Carter Regional Airport: "The "Lone Eagle" first flew solo in early May, 1923 from Souther Field. Charles Lindbergh had come to Americus to purchase a surplus aircraft from the World War I training center. He chose a Curtiss JN4 "Jenny." He got the plane with a brand new OX-5 engine, a fresh coat of olive drab dope, and an extra 20 gallon fuel tank for $500. Lindbergh had less than 20 hours of instruction when he soloed. He practiced take-offs and landings for a week; then having filled up with 40 gallons of gas, he set course for Montgomery, Alabama, to start his barnstorming career. Four years later Lindbergh flew alone in "The Spirit of St Louis" from New York to Paris and into aviation history."

Next door at the South Georgia Technical College was our next cache (GC17V02). The land on which the college now sits was once a training facility for WWI and WWII pilots. This is also the where Charles Lindbergh trained and had his first solo flight. It was converted to a college in the late 1940's. This was one of the airplanes located on the campus grounds.

Over in Crawford County in the town of Knoxville, Georgia more history was to be found. My next two geocaches were located by the old courthouse (GC6C5C, GC3DFJG). Crawford County was created by Acts of the Legislature on Dec 9 & 23, 1822, and is named for William H. Crawford, a Georgia statesman. This building served as the county courthouse from 1823 until a new one was constructed in 2001.

Most everyone has heard of Route 66, the Lincoln Highway, and many other historic highways which played a role in the expansion of this country. US-80/GA-22 passing through town was once known as the Federal Wire Road. This highway, created by an Act of Congress in 1810, entered the state at Augusta, passing through Warrenton, Sparta, Milledgeville, Macon and Knoxville to Coweta Town (now called Columbus). It was formally known as the Stage Coach Road. A telegraph line, the first that connected New Orleans with Washington D.C., was erected in 1848. The wires paralleled this road between Columbus and Macon giving to this section of the old highway the name of the Federal Wire Road. This telegraph line was also the first one to be erected in the state of Georgia.

Knoxville also played a role in Texas history. It was here that Joanne Troutman gave to a company of Georgia soldiers commanded by Col. William Ward on their way to fight for the Independence of Texas, a Lone Star Flag. It was carried to Goliad where James Fannin Jr raised it as the Texas National Flag.

One more that I want to mention... Alexis de Tocqueville, the 25 year old French aristocrat and author of Democracy in America, visited this area during his 1831-1832 tour of America.

Over in Jones County we stop at a park for short hike to our next geocache (GC229DF). The first iron foundry in Georgia was established here by Samuel Griswold, who came from Connecticut, settling in Clinton in 1820. He also manufactured about 1,000 cotton gins a year and ran a steam sawmill and grist mill. Moving to Griswoldville in 1849 to be on the railroad his mansion and factories were burned by Sherman in 1864 when he was making pistols and ammunition for the Confederacy. He died in 1867. Daniel Pratt of Temple, NH, later designer of the Alabama capitol, was at one time Griswold's partner.

Moving right along we made a quick roadside stop for a quick cache in Jasper County (GC5RKVD).

Looping around Atlanta to the northeast side, we arrive at our final geocache of the day. This is one that has been on my bucket list for a long time. Beaver Cache (GC1D) was hidden way back in June 2000 and is the 8th oldest active geocache in the world. I had been close to it many times before, but either didn't have the time or just forgot all about it. That completes one more of my Year 2000 calendar. All that's left now is July and August.

So that was Day 2 of our Florida to North Carolina roadtrip. Like I said at the beginning, we saw a lot but didn't get very far.

On Day 3 it was just driving straight through the rest of the way where we reached our destination at the Lake Norman Motorcoach Resort. For the next few months here working at this project, this will be home:

Come back soon as we will be exploring the backroads of North Carolina and completing the last 7 NC Counties while we're here.

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2018-09-12: Completing Geocache Counties Along the Texas Gulf Coast

Welcome back to the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas on a wet Wednesday. It's still too muddy at the jobsite to work. So it looks like another day of Geocaching! And I've got just the thing. I've been working on completing my Texas counties. There are a total of 254 counties in Texas. I need two at the very top of the panhandle, two north of Dallas, and there are four left here along the Gulf Coast.

I quickly get underway across the state, I've got a lot of driving to do today. My first stop is a geocache (GCQJCF) at a historical marker in Matagorda County. Camp Palacios was established on this site in 1925 as the summer training camp for the Texas National Guard's 36th Division, which had formed during during World War I as the 36th Infantry. The division, which became the 36th Infantry Division during World War II, trained here each summer, 1926-1937 and 1939. Located on the Turtle and Tres Palacios Bays, the land was donated by Palacios area citizens. More than 6,000 guardsmen arrived in July 1926 for the first training session. In 1930, the camp was renamed for Major General John A Hulen (1871-1957).

On its 1,200 acres, the new camp supported the largest concentration of troops for field training in the United States Military, with facilities for several thousand inhabitants. In 1940, the War Department leased camp Hulen; first to undergo Anti-Aircraft training were National Guard units from several states. By 1941, the City of Palacios suffered a housing shortage that was alleviated by Government housing for military families and civilian workers near Camp Hulen. After extensive development, the camp had facilities for 12,000 military personnel.

Basic training continued until early 1944, when U.S. Soldiers were removed. German prisoners of war, guarded by a small contingent of U.S. personnel, were housed here from 1943 to 1945. In 1946, the War Department returned Camp Hulen to the National Guard, for whom it had become too small. Buildings were slowly dismantled and sold. In 1965, the property was sold jointly to a group of Palacios citizens and a development company.

Next stop in Port Lavaca, Texas over in Calhoun County, I come to a virtual geocache (GC84D1). Constructed in 1858 this three-story hexagonal lighthouse was originally located in Matagorda Bay, at the southern tip of Half Moon Reef. The beacon served as an aid to ships trading in Port Lavaca and nearby Indianola. The beacon was in service till 1943 when it was moved to Point Comfort, then moved to it's present site in 1979. The beacon was restored as a community project and placed on display.

Also in Port Latava is another virtual geocache of historical value (GCG8JQ). At the VFW Post 4403 is a Vietnam War Memorial. This Army helicopter saw action in Vietnam and Desert Storm. It has the capability of carrying two tons of ammunition to fire from machine guns, cannon and grenade launchers. It had the distinction of being the most heavily armed helicopter in Vietnam action. This swift and hardy craft became one of the most celebrated tools of the Vietnam War.

The last virtual geocache here was at Indianola, Texas (GCDFB7). Of the many ghost towns of Texas, none lived longer, none thrived better, none died as tragic a death as Indianola, on the west shore of Matagorda Bay near where Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, is thought to have landed in 1685. Many colonists, including the German immigrants led by Prince Carl of Soms-Braunfels entered Texas at this natural port. It was an important military port, a railhead, and a diplomatic center where commissioners of Mexico and the United States met to establish boundaries proscribed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The port exported cattle to the East and Cuba. In 1875, at the heights of its prosperity, population 6,000, a tropical storm took toll on lives and property. After a second storm hit a year later Indianola was abandon. Now only a fishing and vacation community remains of this famous Texas city.

Next up in Refugio County was my next geocache at the Tivoli Cemetery (GC4NHZ7). Captain Newton Cannon Gullett who founded Tivoli, Texas on his ranch of the same name. Gullett erected a cotton gin, store and a boat landing on the Guadalupe River to export cotton and receive supplies. 

The town was first platted in 1907 by Preston R. Austin and a post office was granted in 1912. The St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway was extended through Tivoli (to the terminus at Austwell) that same year. The town was re-platted in 1913 - doubling the size of the town from five blocks to ten. Austin donated the town's first church and school. Hurricanes hit Tivoli in 1919 and 1942, but the shallow bay, high bluffs and slight population spared the community from obliteration. The town reached its population zenith in 1928 with a population of 700. The next photo is one of the old abandoned houses in the town.

Continuing to make my way back, I enter into Aransas County and the historic Lamar Cemetery (GC188TK). According to the historical marker, this burial ground originally served members of the Lamar Community. Founded by James W. Byrne (d. 1862), a native of Ireland and a veteran of the Texas Revolution, it was named for his friend Mirabeau B. Lamar, President of the Republic of Texas from 1838-1841. The earliest grave is that of Patrick O'Connor (1822-1854), a bookkeeper for Byrne's business operations in New Orleans. The town of Lamar ceased to exist by 1915 and the cemetery was neglected until the 1940's when it was restored through efforts by the family of John Henry Kroegor, Jr (d. 1944).

Crossing the bay down into Fulton, Texas, I found my next geocache in the Fulton Cemetery (GC188TK). Land for this community graveyard was set aside when the town of Fulton was platted by George Ware Fulton in 1868. The earliest documented burial is that of a child, Louis L. I. Greenough (1868-1869). The large number of children's graves attests to the often harsh conditions of pioneer life. Also interred here are European immigrant settlers, prominent local citizens, and veterans of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. A brush fire in 1947 destroyed many of the early wooden markers, leaving some unmarked graves.

Just before crossing the bridge into Corpus Christi, in the town of Portland, was another geocache (GC58B90) call "Home Sweet Gnome" that had a lot of favorite points given to it. So I just had to go and check it out. It was a very creative cache someone constructed out of a tree stump.

Heading west now making my way back to Falcon Lake, I make a stop in the town of Alice to grab a geocache at the Collins Cemetery (GC119Y1). Alice, Texas is the town originated in the defunct community of Collins, three miles to the east. About 1880 the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway attempted to build a line through Collins, which then had 2,000 inhabitants. The townspeople were not amenable to selling their land to the railroad company; consequently, the railroad site was moved three miles west, and in 1883 a depot called Bandana was established at its junction with the Corpus Christi, San Diego and Rio Grande Railway. Bandana soon became a thriving cattle-shipping point, and application for a post office was made under the name Kleberg in honor of Robert Justus Kleberg. The petition was denied because a town named Kleberg already appeared on the post office list, so residents then chose the name Alice, in honor of Alice Gertrudis King Kleberg, Kleberg's wife and the daughter of Richard King. The Alice post office opened for business in 1888. Within a few years the remaining residents of Collins moved to Alice, which was by then a thriving community.

My last geocache was in a town called San Diego, Texas (GC78TC9). Early travelers between Goliad and Mier stopped to use the springs that fed San Diego Creek in what was to become San Diego. Around 1800 Julián and Ventura Flores (father and son) received two land grants known as San Diego de Arriba and San Diego de Abajo. The grants were surveyed in 1806 and they received their deed in 1812. In 1828 the first birth was recorded and the population was estimated at 25 families by 1844.

In 1846 Gen. Zachary Taylor and his troops briefly occupied the town during the Mexican War. In 1848 Ventura Flores sold land to Pablo Pérez, who built houses and named the town Perezville. The town's first post office was opened in 1852 in a small white building known as the Casa Blanca. It is said that Perezville was renamed San Diego at this time. This building was occupied by Confederate forces during the Civil War and it later served as a store, a speakeasy, a residence and a bar. It remains standing today.

Grabbing a bite to eat as well, it was still nearly two hours of driving back to the house at Falcon, Texas. After 600 miles today, I have completed the last of the southern Texas counties! Only a few more to go up north to complete the state. Thank you for riding along with me. I welcome you back again soon for another days adventure.

2018-04-22: Geocaching Through a Cemetery, Ghost Towns, and an Old Bridge in West Texas

Here we go again, another Sunday and another 360+ miles of driving from Killeen in Central Texas to Monahans in West Texas. My wife lives and lives in Killeen and I work in West Texas as a Construction Surveyor building wind and solar farms. So after working 5 or 6 days every week, I drive eastbound on Friday or Saturday night. On Sunday's it's time to drive back westbound. That's also a time to find some geocaches along the way and do some exploring. So let's get started and find some smiles!

After a quick stop at Duncan Donuts for a caramel iced coffee and a bagel, I begin the journey. My first geocache is at the Garden on Memories Cemetery (GC480M4) on the south side of Killeen. Connected to the Calvary Baptist Church, this fairly new cemetery dates back to 1983 and only has just over 300 interments here. Being in a military community, there were a few military themed grave sites as well.

Passing through Lampasas every week, I see this old building. But I can't find any information on it online. Responses from the Backroads of Texas Facebook Group say it was definitely a church, but haven't gotten any dates or name of it. If any of you happen to know what it might be, please leave a comment. (Update: thanks to the great group over at "BackRoads of Texas", they have posted this link to a KCEN TV News report on the church which was built in the 1940's.)

Continuing on my way westbound, I took Farm Road 580 instead of the usual US-190 out of Lampasas. Soon I arrive at my next geocache called "Double Smiley Cache" (GC10CCX). A quick roadside geocache that gives you one smiley for the find and one smiley photo opp waaaayy up on the hill. You can barely see it in this photo below, but I zoomed in close for the photo at the top of the page. Looks like it used to be one of those large old fashioned TV satellite dishes you used to see more often before the small ones commonly used now.

Continuing down Farm Road 580, I came to the community of Nix, Texas. I guess it could be considered a ghost town, but the population never really took off. From the historical marker: "Settlers came to this site along Fort Phantom Hill Road in the 1860's and established the Village of Nix. Harvey Wallace opened a general store in 1875, and his wife Elizabeth became the first postmaster. Several springs ran nearby, including Dripping Springs near the Nix Cemetery founded in 1878. By 1885, citizens started a school on the Levi Ringer Place. The town boasted a cotton gin, blacksmiths, and stores, and citizens built a new schoolhouse in 1920. Rock quarries and cedar yards begun in the 1940's supported the local economy. Nix schools absorbed Bend, Lynch Creek, Ogles before consolidating with Lampasas in 1952. The historic Nix Schoolhouse later became a community Center."

The highest population ever recorded was only at 27 in 1896. The post office was discontinued in 1906. The general store with gas pumps have been restored, though it does not function as a store and is located on private property. There are two geocaches in town. One called "Why Not #4" (GC15VTB) and the other called "Deliverance #14" (GC193Y4) located at the Nix Cemetery.

Nix General Store

Nix Cemetery

Low Water Crossing
Who says a Prius isn't an off-road vehicle!

Old House in Nix, Texas

Former Schoolhouse now Nix Community Center

Leaving Nix, I make it back to US-190 for three more quick geocaches: "Our First of Many Firsts" (GC7G49E), "Flying Goose" (GC15VRP), and finally a backroad "Deliverance #7" (GC17NE8) which hadn't been found in two years! I almost passed it up because of that. But it was a very rural road and it didn't have any DNF's logged. That just told me that it was probably still there and nobody has made any attempts to find it. So always nice to find a lonely cache!

After finally making it to and passing through San Saba, I turned north on County Road 208 on my way to my next geocache. Then I saw this building with a historical marker and had to stop and investigate.

"A site once famous for its horses and racetrack. Riley Harkey (1832-1920) and Israel Harkey (1835-1914) were Indian scouts in Texas in 1850-53. In 1855 they led their parents, Mathias and Catherine Harkey, to move here from Arkansas with other adult sons, daughters, in-laws and grandchildren. The families ranched, and Mathias Harkey ran a country store for many years.

"Riley Harkey brought to Texas a fine, fleet footed mare, who with her racing progeny drew crowds of enthusiasts to this site for half a century. Other sons and grandsons of Mathias Harkey also joined in the breeding, training, and racing of horses. Stores, blacksmith shop, and other businesses all faced east on a single street overlooking the flat with its racetrack and baseball diamond. There was no post office, but the village was so well known that mail addressed to Harkeyville promptly arrived here.

"On Nov. 26, 1873, George W. Barnett (1823-1885) gave land for the first school; the schoolhouse was used also for church services and public meetings. The racetrack closed in 1907; the cotton gin burned in 1920, and was not rebuilt; school consolidated in 1929 with San Saba. The last store closed in 1954. A community hall, built 1973, marks site of the town."

From Harkeyville to China! Well not exactly China but the China Creek Cemetery (GC3PC66). With over 700 interments here, this cemetery is still in use today. You'll find many of the Harkey family members buried here. There's also many members of the Ketchum family who were also some of the early settlers of San Saba County.

Green B Ketchum, Sr. relocated with his family to Sangamon County, Illinois from Alabama about 1825. The family then moved to Texas about 1848 with his father Peter Reasor Ketchum, a preacher and rancher, and two brothers and their families. Brother James arrived in Texas in 1846 and uncle Jacob earlier, fighting in the Texas War of Independence from Mexico.

The family went first to Limestone County, Texas for a short stay, then to Caldwell County, Texas where Peter Reasor Ketchum and some others remained, and Green Berry Ketchum moved on to San Saba County about 1855 where they were early pioneers of the County, settling on the San Saba River on the place known later as the Rainey place in China Creek Community.

Now trying to make up time, I drive straight through San Angelo. After a while though and passing caches, it's time to make another stop. On US-87 nearing Sterling City, I turn down a side road for the Sherwood Lane Bridge geocache (GC14VW4). Built in 1920, this 96 foot pony-truss bridge crosses the North Concho River. A single lane bridge that still allows for vehicle traffic or you can use the lower water crossing off to the side. And if hunting for the geocache and you are having a hard time finding it, well somebody has made it obviously clear of its location. And if you still cannot find it, then I think you may need to find a new hobby!

One more quick roadside geocache (GCXRZJ), then straight on towards Monahans. That's all for the day. Just a reminder to Like Us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter. Or just Subscribe to my blog directly using the buttons to the right. See you next week.