What does this mean to you?
n 45°55.145′ w 090°05.011′
That’s what the query said when I spotted it in my blog access logs. What an oddly precise item to drop into a search engine. The visitor came to Twelve Mile Circle by following a Google link, one of only five in existence. You know it’s obscure when Google says there isn’t even a full page of choices available.
The majority of those Google recommendations all pointed to the same phenomenon, the famous 45X90 spot in central Wisconsin. Google apparently truncated the request to 45° N and 90° W when it presented its results to my mystery visitor.
Naturally I had to check +45°55.145′ -090°05.011′ and see what it returned. It was important to somebody. Something of interest should be located there.
That didn’t offer much help. It falls near a curve on Shady Knoll Road in Park Falls, WI by a boat ramp for Round Lake. The most noteworthy item of significance in this vicinity is the Round Lake Logging Dam which dates to 1878 and can be found on the National Register of Historic Places. Logging Dam Road appears on the northern edge of this image. That’s interesting, I suppose, but is it worthy of someone checking the lat/long coordinate on the Intertubes?
Perhaps switching to Street View will offer a clue
Nope. It looks like a million other rural spots. This one is part of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest which, oddly enough, is actually two independent National Forests that happen to be managed as a single unit. Specifically it falls within the Chequamegon portion in the Medford-Park Falls block, known as the Riley Lake Wildlife Management Area.
I have to admit that I have absolutely no idea why the person searched on this specific spot. Is it some kind of Internet treasure map? I don’t imagine modern-day pirates would resort to quill pen and vellum but maybe they’d leave digital breadcrumbs instead? My imagination took hold and I wanted to take a backhoe to that stretch of road to find the treasure chest that’s obviously burried there.
Then my rational mind kicked-in. The person probably thought they were using Google Maps rather than Google and it was probably a simple mistake. Given the obviousness of the error though, then why did they click on one of the links? Treasure, anyone?
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