I came across this monument on a survey years back, and never had an answer for what it represented.
Well today when talking with a longtime Houston resident I got a clue which could answer this.
Long before Texas became a name synonymous with big oil, cotton was king. Texas became one of the nation's largest growers and exporters of cotton.
Cottonseed began an evolution as the cotton crop grew. From rough feedstock to fertilizer and finally oil, another industry grew. The cottonseed oil became a foodstock for people, and bit of history, Crisco came from an acronym for crystalized cottonseed oil.
At some point in the 1880s Texas produced something around five million barrels of cottonseed oil per year. One of these cottonseed oil mills, the National Cotton Oil co. located just west of downtown, was previously the Howard Oil Mill, which burned to the ground in 1886 when the fire hydrants and valves didn't operate.
My best guess is this monument represents the northwest corner of the Howard Cottonseed Oil Mill.
Surveyors have a greater need to understand a wide range of historical topics than probably any other profession. We work with more clues than police detectives ever do. Appreciating the history is what separates the quacks from the professionals. History is not quick or simple.
Looks like its been "properly" pincushioned already. :-O
"History is an advanced early warning system"
YOS
DGG
If you can't accept a 6"X 6" stone, what would you accept?
Love the pin driven next to it
It wasn't the Howard Cotton Oil Mill, though nearby, the monument represents the old Southern Cotton Oil co. which at some point after 1907 became the Houston Cotton Oil Mill. The property exists in the Houston Heights and is conveyed and described by bounds of lot, block, and street row. The Houston Heights was platted and recorded at some point in the 1890s, and I've never seen any mention of the original monuments set, if any, or if the subdivision was staked at or around the time of the platting.
The capped iron rod in the photo likely represents a more accurate representation of the limits of the row/property in question. The value of property in the Houston Heights has appreciated considerably, and the conversations with adjacent property owners were an eye opener in that respect. Maybe the monuments were set at a time when the level of refinement in survey measurements didn't match today's standards, and the answer lies in boundary law, and is past my level of understanding. It made for an interesting historical exercise.
Reminds me of this one I found in 07, I still can't believe the ego of this surveyor. How pristine and visible is this stone? One could argue he wanted a metal witness to help find it under snow. I would say just throw a handful of railroad spikes next to it, not a cap!
You really have to marvel at the time it must have took to craft such a uniform and neat appearing 1/4 section corner. Wow
Jon Collins, post: 362795, member: 11135 wrote: Reminds me of this one I found in 07, I still can't believe the ego of this surveyor. How pristine and visible is this stone? One could argue he wanted a metal witness to help find it under snow. I would say just throw a handful of railroad spikes next to it, not a cap!
I have driven a LOT of steel by rocks and in mounds because at some point, it may get scattered and AT LEAST there is something for the guy who doesn't know much about hunting rocks to get him back to the same corner location.
I'll not crucify a surveyor for perpetuating a monument with a different type of material. We never know what's gonna happen when we leave.
Now, if he drove it two feet away or something asinine, then yes I might change my tune.
Agree is its a mound. I've driven rebar right in the middle of a mound absent of the corner stone. But the stone is the monument.
