Sometime back I posted about this situation that used to be quite common in a certain area of Beverly Hills and I think it's worth posting again.
A long time ago there was a program called WPA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_Progress_Administration
One of the projects done during that period was tying out the original lot corners of the Beverly Hills Tract.
The surveyor of the subdivision had monumented the corners with 2" x 2" hubs and some individuals realized the importance of monument preservation and through WPA, hired others to tie out these 2" x 2" stakes.
The person(s) doing the tie outs would come to a stake and set two swing ties, 2 foot distant, from the stake and drill a lead and place a nail in it and move to the next stake and repeat the process.
The swing ties were just that, swing in two feet and you have the original corner location, that is to say, each set was random as far as orientation to the lot line went.
There has been a lot of walk replaced in the city and I do not know just how many of these WPA ties still exist, but for those surveyors who may have come across this situation when surveying and wondered about this 'pincushion', well this post is just to explain why two points exist for one lot corner.
I have lined out the area that I have found them in the picture below..
I have never seen any of these ties in the alley ways but I have come across quite a few in the last 40 years on the streets themselves, so if you happen to find a few sets in your survey, count yourself lucky to be able to re locate some original corners.
If they only set two swing ties at random orientation 2' from the original corner how would the next person know which of the two possible solutions to the swing ties was the correct solution?
> If they only set two swing ties at random orientation 2' from the original corner how would the next person know which of the two possible solutions to the swing ties was the correct solution?
Logic and Observation B-)
Dual lead and nails City of Beverly Hills - Tim
> If they only set two swing ties at random orientation 2' from the original corner how would the next person know which of the two possible solutions to the swing ties was the correct solution?
The two ties were in the sidewalk. The walks in that area are 1' offset PL inside the right of way line, so it would be the intersection that landed behind the walk.
I have seen "WPA" impressed into the concrete curb in older areas of Sacramento.
THANKS FOR THE POST PAUL
There is at least one court case because someone insisted that a swing tie was their property corner.
Folks may not fully appreciate the fact that many blocks in this subdivision are formed by the intersection of 4 curved lines.
The county has a copy of the calc work sheet for this subdivision and it is truly a thing of beauty.
It is ironic that the WPA employed poor people to preserve monumentation in a rich area of Los Angeles as opposed to Highland Park, Boyle Heights, or Box Canyon.
I love LA
The WPA set references on many of our section corners. Very typical is 4 concrete 4x4 posts at 50 foot distances. Many have been destroyed since. Farm plows and road widening wipe them out, but it is nice when we find them. In area's of cattle land they have a much better chance of survival. cows seem to leave them alone. lol
I too have found and used these swing ties a time or two. It gets a bit more complicated to calc in the lot when you only have a single swing tie to a few different corners.
I have a map in my office from an old line surveyor in West LA that showed all of the remaining swing ties as of about the 1970s.
Good stuff Paul.
Rob Hennon
Maybe they could look at the sketch to help too.
You may have also found that the c/l monuments may not necessarily fit the lots.