GC4VJYC Traditional Cache Spring Valley School
Type: Traditional | Size: Micro Micro | Difficulty: 1.5 out of 5 | Terrain: 1.5 out of 5
By: Tom.dog @ | Hide Date: 12/14/2013 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N39° 09.134 W104° 46.190 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
Takes less than an hour  Available during winter  Stealth required  Park and Grab 

Surprised to see that this school didn't have a cache at it. The buildings and land are maintained by the Douglas County Historical Society.


From the Douglas County Historical Society, and thanks to Big B Bob for finding this information:

Early settlement in Spring Valley began in July 1860 and consisted of German, English, Welsh, and Irish settlers. The settlement included a post office, store, school, blacksmith shop and livery stable, hotel, cheese factory and cemetery. Harrison Bucks and John E. Geiger built the Spring Valley School. John Geiger was a carpenter applying his trade through the construction of many of the wooden bridges with high sides seen in southern Douglas County. He was elected Justice of the Peace for Spring Valley in 1892. Other important residents in Spring Valley included: George Redman, one of the first settlers in Douglas County and a school superintendent and postmaster; Jacob Geiger, master of the Divide Grange No. 53 and manager and eventual owner of the Spring Valley Store; Joseph Gile, reportedly the first person to farm in the area and the owner of the Gile Ranch, which first served as the Spring Valley stage stop and mail drop, and included a hotel; and finally, Henry Gandy, who was instrumental in the organization of the Spring Valley Cemetery and helped set up the rural telephone lines serving the Valley.

The exact date that the schoolhouse was built is unknown, but it is believed to have been between 1870 and 1878. The school is a standard design of a single-story vernacular, lap-sided, wood-framed building. It has six double-hung windows, a shake-shingled roof, and a rock foundation. A hand dug well is located east of the building. There is also a coal house, outhouse, and barn on the property.

The Spring Valley School is located halfway between Franktown and Colorado Springs near the headwaters of the Cherry Creek watershed just north of the Palmer Divide. The fertile soil is fed by numerous underground springs, which made it possible to raise diverse crops including potatoes, beans, sugar beets, and native grass hay.

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The cache is a simple micro, so as not to disturb the surroundings too much. Please replace it as found and respect the buildings, land, and history that has been preserved here.

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Driving Directions

 Logs

10 Logs: Found it 10  

Found it 06/06/2019 By Qaz
I stopped at this one on the way home from the local spirit cache. This was a nice and quick find. The log was a little moist but I was still able to give it a good stamp. Thanks for having this one out here for me to find today.

- Did you hear about the dog who ran two miles to bring back his master's stick? Personally, I think it's a bit far-fetched.

Found it 05/04/2019 By LostinDenver
Today, after the CITO, I cached around the Larkspur/Palmer Lake/Monument area. There are several caches around that I haven't grabbed and this was the day to change that. During my journey I was enchanted by big blue skies and beautiful views of the mountains.

No problems here. TFTC!

Found it 04/26/2019 By weizen
SL - thanks

Found it 10/27/2018 By jjkajs
Neat place

Found it 09/29/2018 By Pinerypros
Another cool history find. Thanks for bringing me here. TFTC SL

Found it 07/15/2018 By Path_Lighter
Beautiful little place. Thanks to the CO for placing the cache there.

Found it 04/14/2018 By Berb57
Found with Thierry B on a blistery but sunny day. Thanks.

Found it 04/14/2018 By Thierry B
TFTC

Found it 03/02/2018 By Miles ToGeo
Found the cache in good shape.

Found it 02/04/2018 By cajrrman
It was a bit chilly and windy today but I really wanted to do some caching. I hiked more than 8 miles around Lincoln Mountain Open Space Park and then found a few more on the way home. I made the find here at 4:48:00 PM. Thanks for the cache and for helping make today an even nicer day!