With apologies to Charles Dickens:
"It was the best of holes, it was the worst of holes, it was the work of wisdom, it was the work of foolishness, it was the afternoon of belief, it was the afternoon of incredulity, it was the excavation of Light, it was the excavation of Darkness, the morning of hope, the afternoon of despair."
This is the excavation of Light, light work with a shovel to uncover an old survey marker that probably dates from 1947 given that it is a type of #5 steel rebar that wasn't manufactured after that and the subdivision was laid out then. In some older subdivisions, it's a sad commentary that one good clue as to the identity of an original monument is that it doesn't have any old scraps of plastic flagging tied to it as this one also didn't.
This hole of Darkness was what it took to be reasonably sure that no old survey marker still existed within about a 30-inch diameter circle of where all reasonable expectation would place it if it did. A surveyor nearly exactly 70 years ago reported marking this corner with an "Iron Stake". It was a hint that a surveyor a year later, in 1948, reported nearly all of the rear corners of the block in place, each marked by "I.P. Found" with the exception of this corner where he noted that he set an "I.P."
Just an observation concerning human occupation: I can't say as I've ever seen tattered Wal-Mart bags and smashed Dixie cups in any of your photos from less the populated areas you've worked.
I guess it's everywhere though. There's nothing like looking for rear pins behind an expensive fence in a million dollar subdivision....and having to rake aside last year's Christmas tree and several trash bags of rotted grass clippings just to get to a corner.
paden cash, post: 433750, member: 20 wrote: and having to rake aside last year's Christmas tree and several trash bags of rotted grass clippings just to get to a corner.
You forgot to mention the ever present layer of dog poo that you have to dig through to even get to the tree and grass clippings.
Stephen Ward, post: 433751, member: 1206 wrote: You forgot to mention the ever present layer of dog poo that you have to dig through to even get to the tree and grass clippings.
You are right. And the miserable rabid beagle on the other side of the wooden fence that howls for the entire 30 minutes you're back there. 😉
paden cash, post: 433750, member: 20 wrote: Just an observation concerning human occupation: I can't say as I've ever seen tattered Wal-Mart bags and smashed Dixie cups in any of your photos from less the populated areas you've worked.
I guess it's everywhere though. There's nothing like looking for rear pins behind an expensive fence in a million dollar subdivision....and having to rake aside last year's Christmas tree and several trash bags of rotted grass clippings just to get to a corner.
This particular investigation was in an urban area with what I'd say was a spotty history, a fact reflected by the need for thick leather gloves as protection from the sharps, mainly broken glass but with some used syringes mixed in, that formed a top level of occupation on some of the undeveloped lots. The hole of Darkness was on the rear of a lot along a creek where the concept of "fill" was taken to include everything from loose rock, car parts, ferrous junk, as well as actual soil material.
Oh, as an added bit of local flavor specific to that 1947 subdivision: I had never seen #2 rebars used as boundary markers until this one. I guess the idea was to cut costs to the bone and using very inexpensive rebars cut to length with a pair of bolt cutters should have done it.
nice find
Kent McMillan, post: 433743, member: 3 wrote: an old survey marker that probably dates from 1947 given that it is a type of #5 steel rebar that wasn't manufactured after that
Wait...Can you really divine the pedigree of that stake from the inch or so that we see exposed in the photo? You're a better man than I......
Don't suppose that's a church tract on e.m. franklin by chance?
Sergeant Schultz, post: 433763, member: 315 wrote: Wait...Can you really divine the pedigree of that stake from the inch or so that we see exposed in the photo? You're a better man than I......
Well...the working title for the Kent biopic that is in the works is "The Rebar Whisper" for a reason. 😉
Or is it, "The Rebar Whisperer"?
Sergeant Schultz, post: 433763, member: 315 wrote: Wait...Can you really divine the pedigree of that stake from the inch or so that we see exposed in the photo? You're a better man than I......
I exposed about the top 1-3/4 inches of the rebar and that was enough to identify it as the type made to the pre-1947 specification with flatter, more widely spaced deformations than were standardly rolled after 1947 by US rebar mills. The ASTM spec for rebar was revised after research demonstrated that more, higher deformations performed much better in reinforced concrete.
flyin solo, post: 433765, member: 8089 wrote: Don't suppose that's a church tract on e.m. franklin by chance?
No, that's in an old subdivision near Fort Branch Creek.
that was likely my second or third guess. ive just had a look at the third go-round of somebody different trying to make sense of a tract with roughly matching dates. apparently a bunch of different people really want the lot, but none of them want to hire the same surveyor. and- surprise surprise- the deals keep falling apart because nobody can make sense of it. thought maybe somebody'd finally called in the big artillery. 😉 (btw, i'm pretty sure i have the whole thing figured out, but i'm neither a currently practicing surveyor nor, evidently, trusted for advice by the handful of guys who've chosen to walk away from their 400 bucks or whatever instead of doing more homework.)
i've done a fair bit of work down on the lower end of fort branch - where the big old unrecorded hog farm subdivision is. i'll just say this, in keeping with the theme of the thread:
"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every old survey is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other."
flyin solo, post: 433785, member: 8089 wrote: that was likely my second or third guess. ive just had a look at the third go-round of somebody different trying to make sense of a tract with roughly matching dates. apparently a bunch of different people really want the lot, but none of them want to hire the same surveyor. and- surprise surprise- the deals keep falling apart because nobody can make sense of it. thought maybe somebody'd finally called in the big artillery.
That's in one of the two sections of LINCOLN GARDENS. It's a case where the City Engineer's surveying staff have left a record that, among other valuable bits of information, identifies #2 rebars in place at various corners at a fairly early date. One of the nearby corners had a total of three rods in place, a post-1947 1/2 in., a smooth 3/4 in. (both flagged) and a 1947-vintage #2 bar (unflagged) that is mostly likely the original corner.
Oh boy, I don't miss working in residential subdivisions. The barking dogs, the fences, the prized bushes, the conversation with the flying plates.
Sometimes the subdivisions and their debris aren't too bad if you compare that to have to tie into a section corner that was underneath about 15 dead and rotting cows out in the sticks. Couldn't hear myself think because of the buzzing flies that seemed to be enjoying it.