Rich and I were spending some time in Bethlehem today before the annual showing of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. Our main benchmark-related exploration for the day was to investigate Friendship Park and see what might be left of the triangulation station BETH. We expected a challenge because the two geocachers who had logged this mark before us failed to find the station mark. Also, the fact that the monument was set flush with the ground doesn’t usually inspire much confidence. But in this case I had some hope because if the park grounds were maintained the chance of it being overgrown was less likely. (That doesn’t exclude the possibility of other obstacles we’ve encountered many times before, of course, like marks being paved over, having a shed built right on top, lawn resodding, etc.).
Fortunately, things worked out well for us. The coordinates took us right to the station monument, which was well exposed and in good condition, although indeed flush with the surface of the ground. We didn’t expect to find RM 1 because it was definitively declared “Destroyed” in 1973 following some construction in the area. Both RM 2 and RM 3 were found in good condition and exactly as described: RM 2 set in the top surface of a stone wall bordering the south edge of the park, and RM 3 set in a square concrete monument along the park’s western edge.
After that successful recovery, Rich and I wandered around the streets of central Bethlehem, waiting until we were hungry enough for an early supper at the Bethlehem Brew Works (at the eastern end of the W. Broad Street bridge). Why, what a surprise—there’s a benchmark at the west end of the bridge! Of course I knew about it beforehand, and had the datasheet stored in my phone for easy access. We found it easily after a hurried walk across the bridge on this sunny but extremely windy day. The marker is in good condition and the description is accurate.
I was intrigued by the view of what appeared to be a park far below the bridge, alongside the Monocacy Creek. Just a few minutes later, while continuing our explorations of town, we found our way down to the park and and “colonial industrial quarter” that the town is attempting to restore. We saw the remnants of an old mill, textile dye house, waterworks, and several crumbling walls that gave no clue to their former use. Restoration of the blacksmith shop is complete. We enjoyed listening to the blacksmith’s tales as he pounded out nails the old fashioned way.
