First Day of Caching in Paducah 4/17/2009

Well here we are in Paducah amongst all the down tree limbs and brush so off we went to see if there were any caches left around here. Yes, there were quite a few although there were a few that had been disabled because of the ice storm. Our first 3 caches were close to the campgrounds one on a guardrail near a Harley Davidson store, one near a small restaurant on a post and the other also on a post near the road. The fourth cache located in a tree in a small park containing a memorial dedicated in 1973 to Clyde W. Greenway by the Paducah Civic Beautification Board. The fifth cache was also in a small city park also in a tree.
The sixth cache was located at a deserted old building that once housed the Coca-Cola Co. which we found easily near a drain pipe. Now a little history of the building. The Coca-Cola Bottling Company was established in Paducah by Luther and John Carson, natives of Caldwell County, who came to Paducah in 1903. With a plant located on S. 6th st, the Carson brothers became successful regional distributors of Coca-Cola. When the 1937 flood substantially damaged the Sixth Street operation, Luther Carson selected the cornor of Broadway and LaBelle streets (a good way from the river) as the site for a new building. The new Coca-Cola building was construted between 1937 and 1939 in the former Wallace Park suburb, an elevated section of town that had become popular for commercial and residential development as a result of Paducah's increasingly destructive early 20th century floods.
Seventh cache was behind a bicycle shop, eighth cache was in a small beautiful park near a technology park and the ninth cache was under a hi-tension pole near a bank. Next cache was near a local hospital hanging on a fence.
Now for our last 2 caches both of which again we very interesting. The eleventh cache was in Noble Park which just reopened today as it had been closed because of the extensive damage done to it by the ice storm. The cache was a virtual cache which was near a sculpture by Peter Wolf Toth who is a Hungarian-born sculptor, who immigrated to the United States and settled in Akron, Ohio. He later studied art at the University of Akron. He created a series of sculptures called Trail of the Whispering Giants to honor Native Americans. Overall, he has created more than 60 sculptures, including at least one in each state of the United States, and in several provinces of Canada. This is the third sculpture of his we have seen now. Toth completed his first sculpture, of stone, in La Jolla, California in February 1972. The sculpture of an Native American head, measuring nearly 6 feet in height from chin to forehead, was carved into a sandstone cliff located between Marine Street and Windansea Beach, and represented three months of work. Thereafter, he decided to embark upon a journey to create a sculpture in each state. His second sculpture was located in Sand Run Metropolitan Park in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. Since then he has completed a statue in each of the 50 states, and in several provinces of Canada. Some states have more than one sculpture. Florida has three sculptures located in DeLand, Fort Lauderdale, and Punta Gorda. Other sculptures have been made to replace earlier ones. His second sculpture in Ohio was vandalized and destroyed. In response, Toth carved Rotaynah at Fairlawn Elementary School (now Judith A. Resnik Community Learning Center). Afterwards, he continued until his journey ended in May 1988, when he completed a sculpture in Hawaii. The largest sculptures stand over 20 feet in height, with some exceeding 50 feet. When discussing his interpretation of what to sculpt for his Winslow, Arizona, project, Toth had this to say: "I study the Indians of the area, then visualize an Indian within the log. It is a composite of all the native people of the state." The scupture we saw today was named "Wacinton" and it means "To Have Understanding" and it was hand chiseled from a local 56,000 pound Red Oak to honor the Chickasaw Indians who lived and hunted in this area until the Jackson Purchase, 1818. Very very impressive as all his sculptures have been.
Our next cache was a multi-cache and was located at Whitehaven Circa 1860, a classic revival Victorian home and a restored mansion, now a rest area, and open to the public. Supposedly the old mansion is haunted with a female apparition which has occasionally been sighted on the balcony attached to the second floor bedroom, believed to be the owner's wife. Legend has it she bled to death during an appendectomy. The feeling in that room is very pleasant, however, due to how much she loved that room---her husband had the room and balcony added on especially for her. She has been known to turn off the lights in that room, and the sounds of long skirts swishing as well as the scent of her perfume have been noted. Also, even though the old kitchen is now the employees' break room, there have been times the smells of someone cooking a huge feast have greeted startled visitors. It has been known to happen during the holidays, mainly Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is a beautiful place to visit, even if you don't get to meet the happy spirits inhabiting this great house." Rumor has it that two men that worked at Whitehaven in the late 1980’s both of them had stories of hearing and seeing many things while working the overnight shift. The most common report was hearing footsteps coming from the upper floors or hearing footsteps following them as they walked down the stairs. One night one of the men and another worker were approaching the stairs and in the mirror above the landing of the stairs they could see the reflection of a woman, in a full gown, standing in front of the doors to the balcony. They also reported lights going on and off by themselves and seeing figures standing in front of windows looking out or curtains moving as though someone was looking out at them. This restored home houses a collection of donated artifacts that belonged to the former Vice-president Alben Barkley. The collection includes the Vice-Presidential desk and chair, walking canes, senatorial shaving mugs, the first Vice-President flag, the 1948 inaugural Bible and other momentoes. Whitehaven's original brick structure was built in the 1860's by Edward L. Anderson. The house remained in the Anderson family till 1903 when it was sold for a sum of $4,000 to a local bank clerk named Ed I. Atkins. Mr. Atkins commissioned A.L. Lassiter to do a complete remodeling of the home and as was the common practice of that time, Lassiter added the Classical Revival architectural additions including the six Corinthian pillars, which now hold up the massive front porch. At this time, stained glass and interior plasterwork were also added to the house. An inlaid stained glass piece with the name Whitehave 1903 was installed over the stairway landing. The home changed families again in 1908 when it sold for a sum of $7,000 in cash to then Mayor of Paducah, James P. Smith. At this time, the house gained an additional structure of six bedrooms to house the family's six children. In addition, the home was redecorated with silk wallpaper and heavy damask gold draperies. Whitehaven was renamed Bide-A-Wee which is Scottish from "Come Rest A While." It remained in the Smith family till 1968. We did go in and look around and from what we could see it was a lovely home. They did have tours but only certain days and hours of the week so we didn't get a chance to see much else than some of the rooms downstairs.
Then it was on back to the RV and we had lunch and Mom did our logs and I worked on the many pictures I took today. By then it was dinner time and after eating we called it a day. Well time to say until next time we love you and miss you all. Mom & Dad