GC5RY2J Unknown Cache Ride The Trolley Into Aurora's Past
Type: Mystery | Size: Regular Regular | Difficulty: 2 out of 5 | Terrain: 1.5 out of 5
By: The Cream Cheese and her family @ | Hide Date: 04/21/2015 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N39° 42.692 W104° 48.820 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
Recommended for kids  Takes less than an hour  Available during winter  Parking available  Stealth required  Field Puzzle 

Aurora was incorporated as the town of Fletcher on April 30, 1891. The new town, one of the new crop of suburbs sprouting up around Denver, was four square miles of prairie reaching from Yosemite Street to Peoria and 6th Avenue north to 26th Avenue. In 1907 the town was renamed Aurora. Aurora history is one of change, growth, diversity, and community. 

Since its early history, Aurora has grown to a city of 154 square miles and a population of approximately 335,000 people. Aurora is one of the most diverse cities in the Aurora/Denver metro area.

The Aurora History Museum opened its doors in 1979 in a historic building with two very small galleries and an office. In 1990 the Museum moved to its present location, re-opened in 1991.

This geocache will take you inside the Museum to search for clues within "Growing Home", a permanent exhibit about Aurora’s history featuring their prized one-of-a-kind artifact, a fully-restored 1913 historic trolley trailer.

The Aurora History Museum offers free admission.

Hours: Tuesday – Friday, 9am – 4pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11am – 4pm
Closed Mondays and all city holidays
 


Before we enter the Museum, we'll begin by collecting a few outdoor clues. Proceed to the coordinates above.


The Field of Blue statue features a young boy holding a folded American flag at his chest.

= The month on the left-hand plaque, converted to a number
 


Next, proceed to:  N39° 42.683' W104° 48.806'. The "Twin Totems" at this location stand near the entrance, welcoming you to the Museum.

B = The number of letters in the first name of the artist 
 


Proceed inside and turn left at the desk. Enter the "Growing Home" exhibit. The remaining information you need can be gathered from within this exhibit.

Locate the Mission Viejo display. The Mission Viejo neighborhood in Aurora used bells as streetlight fixtures throughout the community. It was modeled after a community in California. Builders incorporated Spanish design elements into its homes, shopping, and recreation areas.

C = The last digit from the year the street light was installed 
 


Locate the black rotary phone. It's behind glass, so you won't be able to make a call.

D = The first numeric digit, found on the label at the center of the phone (after "AU-") 
 


Search for the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center display. There, you will see an old X-Ray machine. After using the equipment to inspect your insides, locate the code on the green transformer box ("MD X-2"). 

E = The last digit of the item number 9608...


Head east to the other gallery. Step right up, have a seat, and go for a ride back in time on the wonderfully-restored 1913 trolley.

F = The cost of "Fairy Soap", in cents
 


= The number of letters in the activity passengers are prohibited from doing, by law. (The S-word)
 


All out! Last stop! Depart the trolley and go around on the other side. Locate the conductor's hat and vest and try it on! Take a picture! We'd love to see it!

While you're incognito, you can access the geocache that you just discovered underneath! Open it up and remove the inner container. DO NOT remove the outer container from the beam!

The combination for the lock is: 

100 + A + B + C + D + E + F + G




While you are here, you should also check out this amazing adventure too!

Additional Waypoints

 Custom URLs

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Picture Gallery

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Driving Directions

 Logs

9 Logs: Found it 9  

Found it 06/13/2019 By magillacutty
Very cool cache! Me and the kiddo had fun :)

Found it 04/14/2019 By ACMWFM
Awesome fun cache with the kids! Thanks a ton!

Found it 03/02/2019 By fearthefish
In March of 2018, I was foolish enough to sign a challenge requiring me to find a mystery cache on every calendar day of the year. At the time I was short by roughly 100 days.

Fast forward to March 2019, and I am down to twelve days left, including this one. Today I decided to check out the trolley and go after this cache. I was accompanied by the ever joyful herndonrd, who had already found this one before. After talking to the very nice woman at the front and receiving commemorative coin #9, we began our journey. Of course I wasn't paying attention to the description and had to go back outside first, but after that it was smooth sailing. I was especially thrilled that I came today because they also had a temporary exhibit about all the craft breweries in Aurora. Yum!

But I digress.

Herndonrd watched as I gathered all the required data and made my way to the final location. It was here that I made a very sad discovery: the conductor's hat and vest were missing! No photo opp for me!

As we were leaving I asked about the missing fashion pieces and I learned that both items had been destroyed for health and safety reasons as they had come in contact with lice. I was glad that they were looking out for us.

Thanks for the fun puzzle, hide, and journey through the museum. This is one of many places that I never would have seen if not for geocaching.

P. S. No animals (including humans, aliens, or PayMeCache) were harmed in the writing of this log.

Found it 02/23/2019 By tugies
Being an avid geocacher I was really happy to notice this cache, especially since I was bringing some items to donate to the History Museum. I know Dave and was glad to have him walk with me to the stages telling me stories, except for the ones outside because it's too cold! I grew up here so it was really great looking at the exhibits. There's even one about my dad who was the physician here. I don't think I'm too prejudiced in saying this is one of the most fun caches I've done and I've done quite a few. Adding a favorite point. Thanks, The Cream Cheese and her family!

Found it 08/25/2018 By oz8118
I love history, so this cache was right up my alley! I never knew this museum existed, it is tucked way back in the corner of the Aurora municipal complex. I had a nice chat with Mr. Dave, the museum volunteer. We discussed wooden water pipes, the trolley, x-ray machines, and geocaching - he figured out what I was doing, haha. The conductor jacket and hat were missing, maybe they were at the cleaners? Inside the trolley were vintage advertising signs, very cool. One reminded me of the all-time classic movie A Christmas Story, when Ralphy is caught saying a bad word and has to put soap in his mouth, haha.
Thanks for the fun!!

Found it 06/15/2018 By endless822
Took the minions to explore this free and air conditioned museum on a hot summer day. Thanks for the fun and education!

Found it 04/22/2018 By mdarrow83
Thanks for the great idea!

Found it 04/07/2018 By 2lablovers
Had a fun time with this one. Started it several weeks ago when we were here picking up our coin for Centennial House. Unfortunately we ran out of time that day so came back today and quickly completed our tour and got the numbers for the lock. One of the volunteers recognized what we were doing right away and we had a great talk with him and he gave us lots of interesting information about the museum. Thanks for bringing us here.

Found it 11/07/2017 By Rock Chalk
This cache was a great choice for this cloudy, cold morning. My sister lives near Aurora, and I'm sure she had no idea about this museum. I'll have to make sure she knows about it. Really neat place, and a well executed cache. TFTC!