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Geocaching History on Benchmarking


Team Christiansen

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Posted (edited)

Just curious about Geocaching.com's history. Approximately when did Geocaching.com add a snapshot of the NGS benchmark database to log finds? As best as I can tell from the dates of some of the topics in this forum, it was sometime before 2005.

Edited by Team Christiansen
Posted (edited)

The answer is partially within the FAQs on the Benchmark Hunting page, Where does the benchmark database come from, "In 2000, Geocaching.com imported a snapshot of the ever-changing benchmark database from National Geodetic Survey".

 

2000 may have been the download, but I think the benchmarking section on Geocaching.com came early 2002?

The earliest benchmark logs seem to come from May 2002.

 

Locationless GC2D88, to log Benchmarks was placed 12/22/2001 and archived by owner 12/20/2002.

 

Archive: 12/20/2002 by DutchBoy

This cache has been active for almost a year. It probably has been made obsolete by the Benchmark section at this site. Thanks to everyone who logged this cache.

 

At one time, the base page for Benchmarking, Benchmark Hunting was linked in various places on Geocaching.com.

Now, it's linked under the Benchmark section, from the forum subsection That page has largely been recreated in the Help Center

Find a Benchmark

Edited by Isonzo Karst
Posted

My earliest logs were apparently in August 2002. My recordkeeping wasn't perfect back then (and no, it still isn't) but my first seems to be HV7765 in Arlington, Virginia. I think the benchmark section of geocaching.com was inaugurated earlier in 2002.

 

A potentially more interesting question is a timeline of the changes marking the declining support for benchmark hunting on the site: the failure to ever update that database, the loss of a homepage link, etc. It would be nice to see data on the number of users/number of logs over time. Unfortunately, I'm sure it has declined, as has activity on this forum.

 

ArtMan

Posted
Why is there a benchmarking section on geocaching.com?

 

In 2002 there were very few geocaches to find. Hunting benchmarks was something to do with your gps. Having a section on Geocaching.com gave cacher something to do, and something to log on site.

 

The game needed to expand to live. If you look at early geocachers, many found a couple (literally) hid 1 or 2, and then, having nothing further to do in the game without extensive travel, abandoned it.

 

Adding benchmarking was a brilliant move at that time.

Posted
Why is there a benchmarking section on geocaching.com?

 

In 2002 there were very few geocaches to find. Hunting benchmarks was something to do with your gps. Having a section on Geocaching.com gave cacher something to do, and something to log on site.

 

The game needed to expand to live. If you look at early geocachers, many found a couple (literally) hid 1 or 2, and then, having nothing further to do in the game without extensive travel, abandoned it.

 

Adding benchmarking was a brilliant move at that time.

 

So where is it now? I missed it if they moved it or did away with it.

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