WRGT: Underground Railroad - Austinburg Mystery Cache

The Western Reserve Greenway Trail (WRGT) GeoTrail is a 26 mile long paved trail operated by the Ashtabula County Metroparks. The trail is funded by grants and donations, and receives no public funds. The trail is maintained by volunteers, so please remember to C-I-T-O during your visit. 

Ashtabula County was part of the New Connecticut (or Western) Reserve, which spanned northeastern Ohio. Nearly two thirds of the early settlers in Ashtabula County came from Connecticut. Many took part in the Underground Railroad. By the start of the Civil War, Ashtabula County was one of the leading centers of anti-slavery fervor and dissent.

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The coordinates above will not only take you to one of the many Underground Railroad information boards along the Greenway Trail, they will also take you to a good place to park.

The real coordinates for this cache are North 41 4A.BCD, West 080 5W.XYZ.

Please read the board to fill in the correct numbers from these bits of information I've copied off of it....

Years before the Civil War, as early as 181C, escaped slaves were being guided through the Western Reserve via Ashtabula County's four north-south main roads (known today as State Routes D5, 4A, 193 and B) to Lake Erie.

Federal Agents were hunting John Brown Jr after his father's plan to free slaves failed in 18ZX.

In the center of the board is a picture of the Ohio State Historic Marker for Betsey Mix Cowles. The marker was placed in YW03.

Good luck and good hunting.

The WRGT 2016 Passport is available for download from the Related Web Page linked at the top of the page. Be sure that you click the "Download WRGT 2016 Passport" button shown below whatever AD is running on the download site.