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Black Gold LbNA #16954

Owner:Corbinsmom
Plant date:Jul 10, 2005
Location:
City:Richford
County:Tioga
State:New York
Boxes:1
Found by: Banjoman
Last found:Nov 21, 2009
Status:FFFFFFFF
Last edited:Jul 10, 2005
John D. Rockefeller Birth Place, Michigan Hill State Forest, Rockefeller Road, Richford, NY

DIRECTIONS: From Route 79 East (heading towards Lisle and Whitney Point), turn left onto Michigan Hill Road. Faith Tabernacle Church and the Holcombville Cemetery are at this intersection. Follow Michigan Hill Road for several miles until you see signs for a Quail Preservation Area on your right. Just beyond this will be Rockefeller Road - turn right onto it. There will be a small stream running on either side on the road and a sign denoting the site of John D. Rockefeller's birth place on the left side of the road. Park on the side of the road.

HISTORY: John Davison Rockefeller, the United States' first billionaire, was born into a farming family on July 8, 1839 in Richford, NY. His father was quite a charlatan, peddling medical "cures" and causing trouble with young ladies. As a result, the family relocated to Moravia when John was still quite young. They later moved to another Tioga county town, Owego, before settling in Cleveland, Ohio where John got his start in business. To read more about John D. Rockefeller's interesting early life and rise to mega-wealth, check out the links below. The last link has a picture of the house he was born in, which no longer exists.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/c/chernow-titan.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/john-d-rockefeller
http://www.reformation.org/rockefeller.html

RICHFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Rte. 38 South
PO Box 28
Richford, NY 13835-0028
Email: wes6@cornell.edu
Contact: William E. Sherwood, President & Historian
Hours: By appointment only (April-November)
Holdings: Various church records, cemetery records, photographs, licenses, artifacts from local businesses and people from the town of Richford. Full report on Clark’s Potato Seed Farm and many slides and photographs provided by Lewis Hardison, Manager of the Farm from 1942-1968.

ESTIMATED HIKE TIME & DIFFICULTY: Approximately 15 minutes or so. The pathways are not cleared, but the ground is flat and safe. It can be buggy so you might want to bring spray.

CLUES: Start by reading the large brown sign about the Rockefeller family's presence in Richford. Just beyond the sign, up a slight hill to the left, is what remains of the homestead - a simple stone foundation. Please be careful not to fall in!

After enjoying the ruins, follow the uncleared path between three thin birch trees on the left and a large pine on the right through the grass. You will walk through a grass field open to the sunlight. Pass many tall pines on your left as you venture into the wooded area.

Note a tree on your right that a woodpecker has carved an "S" into. Soon after you will see a pine with a long vertical blue blaze on the right side of the path. Take five steps past this tree and turn to the right to face into the woods. Find a 5 trunked tree with two horizontal orange blazes. At the base of this tree is the prize you seek!

If you like old cemeteries, you can also check out the West Hill Church Burial Grounds on West Hill School Road in Richford off of Route 79 West (closer to Caroline). John D. Rockefeller's uncle Jacob Rockefeller and his family are buried there. Sorry, no box there - yet...