For two vertices u and v of a graph G, the closed interval I[u,v] consists of u, v, and all vertices lying in some u-v geodesic in G. If S is a set of vertices of G, then I[S] is the union of all sets I[u,v] for u, v ∈ S. If I[S] = V(G), then S is a geodetic set for G. The geodetic number g(G) is the minimum cardinality of a geodetic set. A set S of vertices in a graph G is uniform if the distance between every two distinct vertices of S is the same fixed number. A geodetic set is essential if for every two distinct vertices u,v ∈ S, there exists a third vertex w of G that lies in some u-v geodesic but in no x-y geodesic for x, y ∈ S and {x,y} ≠ {u,v}. It is shown that for every integer k ≥ 2, there exists a connected graph G with g(G) = k ...