At the listed coordinates you will see this grand old building that served the travelling community for almost 60 years. Let's find out more about this grand old building.
THE HISTORY
The Sumas border crossing can trace its history back to around 1891 when what was known as the Whatcom Road or Whatcom Trail became a popular smuggling route into and out of Canada. In that same year, J. F. Flanagan became the inaugural customs office at Sumas. Initially, the customs office was a rented building. When the crossing was relocated, the Sumas customs building was positioned poorly. US Customs built a new border station on the east side of Cherry Street (WA 9) in 1914. In 1931, traffic at the border crossing had increased significantly to where a new customs building was needed. In late 1931, construction began on the new building. Bricks used in the construction of the building were brought in from a foundry just over the border in Canada. In 1932 the building that you see at the listed coordinates was built and originally was located at the border on the west side of Cherry Street. In 1949, the Sumas Crossing became a 24 hour crossing to further serve the community. In 1988, it was determined that the building was no longer adequately serving the traffic coming into the US and planning began on a new US customs building. In February of 1990 construction completed on the current border station and the old customs building was destined to serve another purpose or possibly get demolished. Initially, there was discussion that the old building would be sold to the City of Sumas to serve as its city hall and library and be located to the park located at 3rd Street and Cherry. However the cost to move the building and convert it to the city's use was more than the city could afford. Demolition of the grand old building was looking eminent until a very unlikely hero came to the building's rescue.
The unlikely hero was not a philanthropist or even an historical preservation society. The unlikely hero was a little bird. Yes, you read that correctly a bird! The Vaux's Swift is a unique, local little bird that prefers hollow Douglas Fir trees and other forest snags to roost for the night. Unfortunately, much of their habitat has been lost and in response, they seek out shelter in urban brick chimneys. They roost on the vertical rough surfaces of the brickwork. There are not many places available for the little birds and the Sumas old Border Station is one of their sites. There was an outcry from the Audubon Society and then the Sierra Legal Defense Fund stepped in and threatened to sue if GSA continued forwards with the demolition of the old building. There was a lot of support to save the old building and the roosting place for the little birds.
With demolition being avoided, the building needed to be moved. Clifford Moon of Moon Construction from Seattle was the lowest bidder for either tearing it down and rebuilding it at a new sight or move the building. The building was placed on eight dollies front and rear. Each dolly had eight wheels which made a total of 128 tires. The building weighed 714 tons. The power to move the building came from a heavy oil-rig truck which was cabled to the building and its brace trucks via eight pulleys. On the journey to the building's current location, the lead 16 wheels sunk a foot or more into the soft soil at the edge of the road and ruptured the water main to the American Legion Hall. The next morning, the movers, J.W. Dent and Co. of Seattle, saved the day by hydraulically retracting the sunken wheels and placing steel plates underneath, then re-extending the wheels.
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS
To log this cache you must first locate the large plaque at the front of the building on the right side on the ground or parking lot level. This plaque commemorates the construction of the building. Send me a message via the geocaching messager THE LAST NAME of the Secretary of the Treasury noted on the plaque. DO NOT INCLUDE THE NAME IN YOUR LOG OR IT WILL BE DELETED. Also include a photo of yourself or if camera shy, a personal item with the building in the background. Avoid including the plaque in your picture.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.