GC5BE27 Carmel's History (Multi-cache) in Indiana, United States created by coachstahly

This cache has been archived.

coachstahly: Carmel is removing way too many historical plaques and sites and not replacing them in order to keep this one going. Picked up the final stage and putting this one to bed.

GC5BE27 ▼

A cache by coachstahly Message this owner

Hidden : 8/22/2014

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Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This is a European style multi that takes you to historic locations around the city of Carmel. At each location (all the stages but the final are virtual), you'll be asked to identify a number to plug into the "formula" to get the final coordinates for this multi. Stages can be done in any order and at any time, but the final and Stage 10 must only be done during the day. NO NIGHT CACHING!!

MANY thanks go out to the Carmel Clay Historical Society for their assistance verifying the information provided and the use of their website to garner the following information. If you want to learn more, feel free to click on the Related Web Page link just below the Difficutly and Terrain ratings. With the exception of Stage 10 and the final, all the rest of the stages can and should be done on foot. There's LOTS of free parking in the area so find a spot and let's get going.

N 39 AB.CDE W 086 FG.HIJ

Stage 1 - N 39° 58.708 W 086° 07.613

Your first stop is the location that was the center point of the founding of Carmel, initially called Bethlehem. You should be standing almost on the corner of Main St. and Rangeline Rd. Carmel was founded on April 13, 1837 when pioneer Daniel Warren platted the town under the name Bethlehem. A substantial number of Quaker pioneers settled the area and opened a meeting house and school from which Carmel Clay Schools evolved. The town was incorporated on March 21, 1874, 37 years later, and officially changed its name to Carmel (suggested by either Levi Haines, Sr. or more popularly believed to be Elizabeth Peele). Bethlehem had to change its name to Carmel because there was already a post office with the name Bethlehem in Indiana. The picture below is the original plotting map for 12 lots.

Original Plot Map

There's a plaque here which you'll need to inspect to get the necessary information for the final location. "This Marker is on lot number E..."

Stage 2 - N 39° 58.710 W 086° 07.612

Since you're already here, we'll have you stay here to discuss another significant event that happened in Carmel, about 75 feet from where you are standing. In 1923, town officials granted Leslie Haines permission to install his "traffic signal" at the intersection of Main Street and Rangeline Road. Carmel's first automated signal was a square box with the words “stop” and “go” backlit with red and green lights. Lore likes to hold that the stoplight was the nation's first but it wasn't. It was an early signal and was definitely Carmel's first. Whether it was even the first in Indiana is debatable.

First Traffic Signal

On April 19, 1924, Haines reinstalled the signal with a new housing and a perfected timing mechanism for which he filed a patent application. The signal stood about eight feet tall with a cast iron pedestal on a concrete base.

Second Stoplight

There's a plaque here which you'll need to inspect to get the necessary information for the final location. "Haines built the signals for xF years at a small factory two ..."

Stage 3 - N 39° 58.637 W 086° 07.803

This stop is one of the most important locations for Carmel's growth, as it allowed for the shipping of goods, both into the town AND out of the town. With the coming of a railroad, eventually known as the Monon, in 1882 the town began to grow more rapidly as farm products and other goods could be shipped by rail. The first mail delivery on the Monon occurred on June 15, 1883 and the first passenger car came through on June 18,1883, heading northbound. By 1959, passenger service through Carmel had stopped and the last Monon freight train came through town in 1971.

Monon Depot

Speaking of transportation, there's another rail line that came through Carmel as well, but there's nothing remaining to show where it used to operate, other than some dirt "burms" (what the tracks used to sit on) that appear sporadically around the city of Carmel. Shortly after the turn of the 20th century the interurban reached Carmel in 1903 and was known as the Indiana Union Traction Line. This afforded the opportunity for commuters to easily reach downtown Indianapolis. Track for the Interurban was built through Carmel in 1903, and the first “car” stopped in town on Friday, October 30, 1903. The tracks ran on what is now First Avenue SW and First Avenue NW to the north edge of town and then curved toward the northeast to Noblesville and then on to Anderson. In September 1938, the last interurban car came through Carmel.

Continuing on with the theme of transportation, with the 1960s came another important factor for the future growth and development of Carmel and all of Clay Township—road construction. In 1962, the state of Indiana began extending Keystone Avenue from 86th Street in Marion County through southern Clay Township, skirting the eastern edge of Carmel to join State Road 31 (Meridian Street) just north of Carmel. State Road 31 was routed along the west edge of Carmel and widened to four lanes. In September of 1967, the state began construction of I-465 along the southern edge of the township with interchanges located at Keystone and Indiana 31 (Meridian Street). With the completion of these three projects, all roads indeed led to Carmel and the boom began. If you've driven through Carmel recently, road work continues even today from the recent take over and redesign of Keystone Ave/SR 431 by the city of Carmel and the state's current project to convert US 31/Meridian St. into a limited access highway.

This extra information aside, you should be standing on the porch of the Monon Depot Museum. You need to head over to the old railroad signal at the south end of the porch and examine the numbers on the metal portion of the signal to get what you need. "XXXXX-XAXX"

Stage 4 - N 39° 58.589 W 086° 07.712

March of 1913 was a month of catastrophes for the small town of Carmel. The first occurrence to hit Carmel was the Great Flood of 1913. Extreme cold and heavy snow through the winter combined with a sudden warm up in mid-March caused the rivers and creeks in the midwest to overflow their banks. The town of Carmel had three feet of water in its streets at the high water mark before the waters receded.

Flooding 1

Just a few days later, Carmel experienced it's most destructive fire to date. It's believed that someone broke into the post office and knocked over an oil lamp, setting fire to the all wood structures along one side of the street. The entire block on the north side of Main St. was burned down as the town's bucket brigade couldn't fight a fire this large and the fire wagon from Westfield never arrived because one of it's horses dropped dead as they were heading to Carmel.

Fire remains

The bucket brigade was finally organized into a proper fire department and in June 1923, under the leadership of Rue Hinshaw, the fire department bought their first Ford Model T fire truck,

Ford

followed shortly thereafter by a REO Speed Wagon fire truck in 1927.

The very first fire station in Carmel opened in 1950.

(Temporary answer while construction is underway) C = 3

Stage 5 - N 39° 58.713 W 086° 07.559

The Carnegie Library was built in 1913 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie and his foundation, which granted $43 million to build libraries to benefit future generations across the nation and this one opened to the public on June 6, 1914. By 1910, library supporters, believing they needed a separate building to hold the growing book collection, approached the Carnegie Foundation for funds. By 1913, Carmel residents had collected the needed funds to qualify for an $11,000 grant from Carnegie and began constructing a building at 40 East Main Street. The library continued at this site through August 1972. It was used as City Hall from 1976 until 1990 and is still in use today, albeit in a slightly different manner than originally intended.

Carnegie Library

There's a plaque here which you'll need to inspect to get the necessary information for the final location. "The City used the building for public safety related activities until 19I6 when Carmel Library Associates purchased it from the City….."

Stage 6 - N 39° 58.700 W 086° 07.587

If you head across the street to the coordinates above, you'll find yourself standing on the location of the very first library in the town of Carmel, as well as in front of another plaque that you'll need to take a look at. It opened in 1904 and was housed in the same building as the telephone "exchange". The Wednesday Literary Club operated the library and expanded the collection so much that it was determined a new building was needed. The result of that decision sits across the street from you right now. "That structure now stands across the street and served as the Carmel Public Library from 1914 until the 19J0s."

Stage 7 - N 39° 58.680 W 086° 07.618

You should be standing at or near the corner of the end of a building and along a small side street that runs east from Rangeline Rd. There's a plaque to the right of the entrance letting you know what used to be here (you'll need something off there just a bit later). Carmel had a popular horse show that used to take place along Rangeline Rd. and it included a tug of war contest between residents of two townships. Another form of entertainment occurred right here where you're standing, for 35 years. The very first movie theater in the area opened here in Carmel and drew patrons from Noblesville and Indianapolis. It was also the first air conditioned building in the town of Carmel.

Modern movie theater

Take a look at the plaque here to see what number you need to find next. "…provided movie entertainment to the Carmel community for three and a half decades, from September, 1B49 to January, 1984."

Stage 8 - N 39° 58.709 W 086° 07.635

You're now standing in front of the Butcher building at the NW corner of the old center of Carmel. You should see a plaque as well, which you'll need to look at closely to determine what you need to find here. This building has been around for quite some time but for the majority of it's life, it was a bank. In fact, the current owner has kept the vault and you might be able to see it if you glance in through the front doors. As a bank, it obviously held money and on April 11, 1929, Harry Lee Watson and Jack Landry robbed this bank (at the time called Citizens State Bank) of approximately $5,500 dollars and also took an employee, Chester Bailey, hostage, but dropped him off about 1/2 a mile away. The other employees and customers were locked in the vault. Landry was later shot and killed while participating in a robbery in Fountain Square, but Watson wasn't captured until September 8, 1930.

Butcher Building

The other robbery occurred when this bank was known as Union State Bank. On the night of September 24, 1955, cashier Thyrza Peters was readying for bed in the Whitestown home she shared with her elderly mother and younger sister when Roy Rudolph Drake and his accomplice, Robert Fowler, broke into the house wearing silk stocking masks and holding revolvers. "We don't want to hurt you; all we want is money," Drake told them. For six hours the terrified women lay face down on a bed. At 4 a.m. Drake drove them to the bank in Thryza’s car. He locked his captives in the bank's basement along with three female employees who entered as Drake waited for the vault’s time lock to release. The vault opened at 8:55 a.m. and Drake emptied it of $16,095. Fowler drove him away in Thryza's car. Drake’s wife, Pauline, and her friend, Rosie Marie Gray, supplied a second getaway car west of Springmill Road. Drake evaded capture for almost a year before finally being arrested on July 20, 1956 in New Orleans. Take a look at the plaque to get the number needed for the final location. "Union State Bank moves on November Gth to 21 Range Line Road."

Stage 9 - N 39° 58.709 W 086° 07.690

The last location in Old Town Carmel was a place for entertainment. The white building you're standing beside used to house the silent film theater. When it was built in 1910, its ground floor served as an auto garage while the theater was upstairs and accessed by a stairway on the east side of the building. While the silent film was playing, a local musician played on the piano, attempting to match the music to the action on screen. On weekends, local merchants sponsored viewings for the public on the outside of the building, free of charge to the moviegoers.

Silent Movie Theater

Yet another plaque for you to peruse. "The Mural on the west wall was designed and painted by Carmel High School ar students in 200H/07."

Stage 10 - N 39° 57.415 W 086° 05.034

Welcome to Flowing Well Park. This well came about more by accident than on purpose. The discovery of natural gas in Hamilton County in 1887 had farmers and others drilling for their own supply all over the state. In 1906, men drilling for natural gas accidentally opened this artesian well, which local residents have used as a source of spring water ever since. To commemorate pioneer families of the area, residents placed a small tablet on the well in 1929. The well, like many other areas of Carmel, was in line for redevelopment in the early 1980s, but due to energetic volunteer activity and community/business support it was rededicated in 1983. In the fall of 1994, Flowing Well Park opened up as the city's first public park. The artesian well here has been putting out water for over 100 years. Back in 1926, the water was coming out at a rate of 60 gallons per minute and today averages around 15 gallons per minute. The well has been closed only a few times, mostly due to contamination, but twice for low pressure/output - somtime during the 1970s and 1998.

Flowing Well

You're going to need to explore the building just a bit to locate the plaque that was placed here in 1929. You won't have to go too far though. "Carmel Lodge D21 F. & A. M.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ybj

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)

This cache has been archived.

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Geocache Description:

Attributes

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Carmel's History Multi-cache

This cache has been archived.

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Geocache Description:

Attributes

Inventory

Bookmark Lists