This is an Earthcache – as such, there is no physical cache. Instead after examining the granite of the Yorktown Victory Monument at the posted coordinates you will answer 5 questions and message me the answers. This memorial is located in Yorktown and is in the care of the National Park Service. The Yorktown Victory Monument grounds and parking lot across the street and at the parking at the Yorktown Visitor Center are open from 0600-sunset. Please no parking on the street or on the shoulder in front of the Monument. Only use designated parking spots.
THE YORKTOWN VICTORY MONUMENT
In 1781 here at Yorktown, General George Washington, with allied American and French forces, besieged General Charles Lord Cornwallis’s British army. On October 19, Cornwallis surrendered, effectively ending the war and ensuring independence. After the Continental Congress received word in Philadelphia of American Victory, a Victory Monument was authorized in October 29, 1781 to be built in Yorktown. Though actual Construction began 100 years later and was completed in 1884. The 84 foot shaft is made of of Maine granite and the statue of liberty adds another 14' for a monument total of 98 feet. The monument was made to commemorate the concluding battle of the Revolutionary War, which ended October 19, 1781 in Yorktown, Virginia. General Cornwallis and his 7,157 men surrendered to General Washington.
HALLOWELL MAINE GRANITE
The formation of Hallowell Maine Granite took place hundreds of millions of years ago during the Silurian and Early Devonian time periods. Collisions of the plates that make up the crust of the Earth are ultimately responsible for generating the molten MAGMA that cooled within the crust to form intrusive granite.
Even though magma and lava may have the same chemical structure, the rock that is formed when they cool has very different properties. Extrusive igneous rocks form from LAVA above the Earths surface. The length of time it takes for lava to cool above the surface is relatively short compared to Magma deep underground. Lava can sometimes solidify in minutes while rock insulated by the earth can take centuries. Slow cooling magma gives the distinct minerals in the rock time to consolidate into large crystals.
The light colored crystals are of quartz and feldspar, and the dark crystals are mica or hornblende. These crystals are mixed in the rock giving it a salt and pepper look. In fact, the name "granite" is derived from the fact that the rock appears to be composed of numerous "grains" or crystals that are intergrown to form a solid, durable rock.
Granite from the Stinchfield Quarry in Hallowell, Maine, was used in the construction of the Yorktown Victory Monument. This quarry is located in Kennebec County, just 2 miles northwest of the city of Hallowell on the southern part of Lithgow Hill. It opened sometime before 1840 produced building and sculpture stone for many of years, but was no longer actively quarried by 1954.
Hallowell Maine Granite from the Stinchfield Quarry is a light gray, fine-grained granite made up of slightly bluish-white potash feldspar, faintly smoky-quartz, blueish-white soda feldspar, black biotite mica, and white muscovite mica, with minor amounts of garnet, zircon, and apatite.
As you can see from this memorial, Hallowell Maine Granite takes a fine polish, and is well suited for sculptures and fine ornamental work.
LIGHTNING DAMAGE
You might notice that Lady Liberty is wearing a strange sort of hat. Over the years this monument has been a beacon for lightning strikes, some that resulted in constructive repairs to the Lady Liberty statue. One lightning strike in 1942 decapitated the original Goddess of Peace, broke off both her arms, and left a white streak all the way down the shaft to the 13 dancing figures on the podium.
That pointy “hat” is a lightning rod that was installed into her classical hairdo when the statue was replaced in 1956. Lightning protection was also added to the shaft which was thoroughly cleaned and repaired by sculptor J.W. Hansen.
The 1942 white streak that was reported to be burned on to the granite shaft may have been a fulgarite. Fulgurites are natural tubes or crusts of glass formed by the fusion of silica (quartz) sand or rock from a lightning strike. Their shape mimics the path of the lightning bolt as it disperses into the ground. All lightning strikes that hit the ground are capable of forming fulgurites.
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS:
To log this Earthcache: Read the geology lesson above. Answer all five questions posted below. Answers for 1-5 can be sent via e-mail or messenger contacts on my Geocaching profile.
QUESTION 1. Is this granite INTRUSIVE or EXTRUSIVE?
QUESTION 2. Examine the Hallowell Maine Granite. Describe the texture?
A) Pegmatitic - A pegmatitic texture is one in which the rocks crystals are about 1” long to larger.
B) Phaneritic - A rock with phaneritic texture has crystal grains large enough to be distinguished with the eye.
C) Aphanitic -Aphanitic texture consists of extremely small crystals.
QUESTION 3. Examine the 120+ year old carvings on the base. Does the detail work in the carvings look sharp and clean still, or are they showing signs of weathering and eroding?
QUESTION 4. In 2018 a lightning strike broke off a piece of Lady Liberty. What part of her is missing?
QUESTION 5. Do you see any indication of the "white streak" that was burned onto the shaft during the 1942 lightning strike?
OPTIONAL PHOTO: Posting a photo that readily indicates that you (and anyone else logging the find) are at the location.
Awesnap has earned GSA's highest level:
REFERENCES:
1. Yorktown Victory Monument, Yorktown Battlefeild, National Park Service, nps.gov
2. Hallowell Quarry Yields Granite Once Again, Mechele Cooper, Morning Sentinel, June 15, 2010, mrlakefront.net
3. Granite Quarrying in Maine, Geologic Site of the Month: Granite Quarrying in Maine, Geologic Site of the Month, Geologic Site of the Month: Granite Quarrying in Maine, August 2003, digitalmaine.com
4. The Commercial Granites of New England, Quarries, Department of the Interior, pages 233-235, 1923, pubs.usgs.gov
5. Structures and Monuments in Which Maine Stone was Used, Perazzo. George, www.fairfaxcounty.gov
6. Commercial Rcks and Minerals of Maine, John R. Rand, Maine Geological Survey, October 8, 1958, Page 6, digitalmaine.com 7. Revolutionary War monument has significant lightning damage, WVEC-TV, August 15, 2018, Associated Press, 13newsnow.com
7. When Liberty Lost Her Head: The Yorktown Victory Monument, N.Sheppard, WYDAILY, August 13, 2023, wydaily.com