First Published Cache of Each Type

[+K13]

For an upcoming Community Celebration Event, I am trying to determine the date of the first cache published of each cache type. NOT the oldest active cache of each, but the first published as that cache type. I know some early caches were 'adjusted' after publication. 

 

We all know May 3, 2000 "The Original Stash" for the first Traditional, and the first Event was GC389 - Austin Geocachers Happy Hour on 3/24/2001.

I believe "Kennesaw Mtn. Virtual Cache" as the first published Virtual.

 

What about the first published as a Multi cache, was it "Tombstone"?

What are the others:

Letterbox Hybrid? Any before "Slices of Quince"?

Wherigo? "Where I went, Hugo"?

Webcam? Any before "Leeds Web-Cam Cache"?

Mystery/Unknown? Any before "Octopus Garden"?

Earthcache? "Earthcache I - a simple geology tour of Wasp Head?

Lab Cache? - I remember some at "Geowoodstock 14er - 2016", were there any prior to that event?

 

I've researched a bit and come up with the ones cited above. Can anyone confirm my answers or provide the correct ones?

 

Thank you in advance for the help.

[Keystone]

This Geocaching Blog post lists what HQ regards as the first of each type.  I bookmarked this article, because I own one of the caches!

 

Lab caches are not discussed in that blog.  But, 8/16/2013 was the public debut of labs at a Geocaching Block Party.  "Microbrew Excursion" took visitors on a tour of five Seattle microbreweries.  I say "public" debut because I believe there were earlier "limited release" adventures in the Seattle area.

[+Isonzo Karst]

I'll offer a bit more history.

 

All caches were "geocache" until HQ (which at that time was  the 3 owners) invented cache types. So "first" of each type can't really be determined, as caches had their types altered from "geocache" to one of the first types: Trad, Multi, Unknown (mystery), Letterbox, Virtual, Event.

Webcam. A.P.E. and   Locationless  came a bit later. 

Site admins did much of the alteration of cache type from "geocache" to "Type" but cache owners could change cache type themselves up to sometime in late 2002, or early 2003. 

 

Then CITO, Earthcache, Wherigo,  A bunch of event types, Mega, Giga, 10 Year! (now rebranded as Community Celebration, Block Party) and Labs.

 

The blog post is  wrong on Multi-cache.  Stone Mountain GC1E was a Traditional until it was adopted and altered to Multi,  summer 2003 - way older than other Multi caches. From the page, "summer of 2003 the cache fell victim to some geomuggle and was potentially a permanent archive candidate....
I contacted the owner and obtained ownership of the cache. The cache has been completely re-worked as a multi-legged cache."

GC1E is certainly the oldest active Multi, but it's absolutely not the first.  

 

(Similar thing in Florida, an old trad reworded as multi now has the oldest GC Code and placed date, but having found it as a Trad, I know that it's can't be the 'oldest' placed Multi ).

 

Edited March 26, 2021 by Isonzo Karst

[Moun10Bike]

I suspect that the first multi was actually GC38.

[Moun10Bike]

10 hours ago, Keystone said:

This Geocaching Blog post lists what HQ regards as the first of each type.  I bookmarked this article, because I own one of the caches!

 

Lab caches are not discussed in that blog.  But, 8/16/2013 was the public debut of labs at a Geocaching Block Party.  "Microbrew Excursion" took visitors on a tour of five Seattle microbreweries.  I say "public" debut because I believe there were earlier "limited release" adventures in the Seattle area.

 

In our database, that Microbrew Excursion Adventure does indeed comes first (not counting a test), with the "Hilliard's Beer" location being the first one logged on August 14, 2013.

[Moun10Bike]

11 hours ago, K13 said:

I believe "Kennesaw Mtn. Virtual Cache" as the first published Virtual.

 

I think the first was GC53, "Rift Valley." The records are murky on that one, though, because it appeared that it was "placed" well before geocaching existed, and the user originally posted it using the estimated date for when he was there. That date was pre-2000, and at some point the record was changed in the database to match the dates on the records around it.

[+sernikk]

14 hours ago, Keystone said:

This Geocaching Blog post lists what HQ regards as the first of each type.  I bookmarked this article, because I own one of the caches!

 

As I was looking through the caches listed in this blogpost I saw that each cache link looks like: https://coords.info/GCxx, which is not working anymore. I guess at some point in the past both coord.info and coords.info were available, but now only coord.info left. Did someone forgot to renew the domain or something changed?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

4 hours ago, Moun10Bike said:

 

I think the first was GC53, "Rift Valley." The records are murky on that one, though, because it appeared that it was "placed" well before geocaching existed, and the user originally posted it using the estimated date for when he was there. That date was pre-2000, and at some point the record was changed in the database to match the dates on the records around it.

That was my understanding as well.  I was in Rift Valley, about three hours away from the cache a couple of years ago.   A couple of people that I was in the vehicle with were heading to Lake Nakuru National Park, to see Rhinos after we had spent a couple of day in Masai Mara.  Unfortunately, I was heading back to the airport for a long trip home.

 

The Lane's Cove cache in Australia causes some confusion about the first virtual, but from what I've read it was originally a physical but was made into a virtual.

[+barefootjeff]

13 minutes ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

The Lane's Cove cache in Australia causes some confusion about the first virtual, but from what I've read it was originally a physical but was made into a virtual.

Yes, the Lane Cove cache (GC3E) was originally a traditional (a partially buried bucket) when it was published in May 2000 but, in August 2001, was removed by a park ranger. It's a bit difficult to tell from the logs, but it looks like it was converted to a virtual about a year later and is still active.

[Moun10Bike]

2 hours ago, sernikk said:

 

As I was looking through the caches listed in this blogpost I saw that each cache link looks like: https://coords.info/GCxx, which is not working anymore. I guess at some point in the past both coord.info and coords.info were available, but now only coord.info left. Did someone forgot to renew the domain or something changed?

 

That looks like a typo that got copied and pasted to each of the links after the first two; coords.info has never been a domain that we've used. I've reached out to marketing to let them know.

[+NLBokkie]

Reading about these first dates for different types of caches makes me think about the Geocaching "development phase". I wasn't a geocacher back then so can only imagine, but can so see how much fun it must have been coming up with all these ideas, new technologies and how they fitted in, development of new caches and rules of play to go with that.

 

Now please don't take this as negative criticism, as it is in no way intended like that. But I personally think it would be good if we could have some of that original grassroots test, trial and error sense back in the game. Some new developments, a bit more allowance towards new possibilities etc. Admittedly, geocaching by now is a mostly well-run factory, but I personally miss the "new possibilities and goals on the horizon perspective". Some new stuff to look forward to, to get involved with. I suppose Groundspeak / Geocaching does have some kind of R&D department, but I'd love to see some more communication on what's going on in there or where the ideas and game are going. Preferably even get involved with development if that was possible.

Edited March 28, 2021 by NLBokkie

[+JL_HSTRE]

There has been new stuff in the decade I've been playing. Wherigo came out in 2008 and was still rare when I started in 2010. We've had Chirps, Augmented Reality caches, the original Adventures, and the new Adventure Labs. There was also a web-based interactive player similar to Wherigo a few years ago.

 

Power Trails and GeoArt were also essentially new during the last decade. Technically, GeoArt is possible without a Power Trail, but allowing Power Trails certainly made them easier to place.

 

Which makes me wonder: what was the first deliberate geoart series?

[+Isonzo Karst]

On 3/30/2021 at 8:23 AM, JL_HSTRE said:

what was the first deliberate geoart series?

 

First I saw was around Seattle, I think it was the Leatherman Gx, but that's a vague recollection.  

[+NYPaddleCacher]

On 4/1/2021 at 8:40 AM, Isonzo Karst said:

 

First I saw was around Seattle, I think it was the Leatherman Gx, but that's a vague recollection.  

 

Was that before the Alien Head near the ET power trail.  That was created in 2010

 

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC253ZN_head-alien-01

[+K13]

Thanks to everyone for the information you provided. Some of these bits of info have found their way into cache descriptions, and will be used for an up-coming Ark-La-Tex Community Celebration Event.