In the past, I have posted about a joint KAPS/TAPS committee working on recovering, referencing, and GPSing the monuments from the final 'official' marking of the line between Kentucky and Tennessee. I recently referenced out one more monument in Trigg County Kentucky and one in Simpson County Kentucky. Also, two colleagues have each done one in Fulton County Kentucky.
Following are some pictures in case anyone might find these interesting:
This one is located as shown in this Google Maps Link. It is monument 491 + 313 in Trigg County KY and Stewart County TN. From here the state line runs southward.
I had recently surveyed the property on the Kentucky side and tied this monument as one of the corners of the property.
The north face of the stone has no markings visible.
The east face is marked KY.
The south face has no markings.
The west face is marked TENN.
The volunteers are setting aluminum reference monument pairs out in the open areas. We traverse through and then GPS the reference monuments in order to get coordinates for the state line stones.
Interesting looking tree. Can certainly see the development of the Tolkien characters.
These pictures are from a monument further east in Simpson County KY and Robertson County TN. Google Maps Link.
North face reads KY. Can not see well in pic due to shadows.
East face read 1858-59 (the years of the survey being ran on the ground).
South face reads TENN.
West face reads No 30 155 MIs. For the monument number and the mileage along the line. The stones were supposed to be set every five miles.
Same type of reference monuments set here as well.
At this point, I have gotten to personally visit and do field work on three of these monuments and am committed to doing at least one more in Simpson County and (if needed) will help on another one in Trigg County.
In order to wrap things up, I have been able to get a couple of folks from our KAPS chapter to attend to two other ones in far western KY/TN (I'll do a write up on one of these that was very interesting later). I have another guy from our chapter committed to doing the GPS work on two of the sets of reference monuments in extremely far west KY/TN. Another chapter member committed to doing the last one in western KY/TN that has not been spoken for.
What has surprised me is that it is very difficult to get people to volunteer to do the work on one of these things. It is a one day affair and is hard to top as an interesting project for a surveyor.
Good pic's Jon...always a good feeling to find the old markers...that's what I like most about surveying...:good:
Great photos! So glad to see that no one has them all painted up. Some surveyors are like male dogs when they get close to a fire hydrant!
I used to live down there (Warren County) How soon do you need the gps coordinates on the monuments? I live 1200 miles away but I've been looking for an excuse to head south for the Spring. Maybe I can convince the wife ....
Well, I would be tempted to help you.
Old monuments are cool.
> Great photos! So glad to see that no one has them all painted up. Some surveyors are like male dogs when they get close to a fire hydrant!
i was thinking as i scrolled through "somebody needs to blast those old rocks with a fresh coat of pink".
How exciting. Nice job. The thought of finding monuments like that makes my head feel like its going to explode.
Jon, what's the deal with the bump out to the north of the Tennessee border at 491+313? Had to be something political to deviate the line 2 miles north???
Jon, I would be happy to volunteer my time if you need help. My email is Joshua.brown @ urs .com. I am a member of Kaps and a KY PLS #4012. I tied into one of the monuments in the s.w. part of the state while surveying a tract for the USDA. I worked for Jeff Clark at the time of that survey and remember the stones location.
Thanks for sharing Jon. I love to see these old monuments and the stories behind them. Hard to believe they were set prior to the civil war.
The goal is to complete the project by April. It has been ongoing for several years.
It is my understanding that one of the very early surveys of the line ran east to west (I believe it is supposed to be at 36°30'). They stopped marking the line near the Cumberland River. Then the line was ran out from west to east creating the northern line in a different location. A subsequent retracement found the original blazed line in both spots and honored them as being the original line.
If I am incorrect on that, hopefully someone will correct me.
I'll send you an e-mail with what is still to be done in our area.
4 Steps West
There is an excellent hardbound book produced by the Kentucky Association of Professional Surveyors that is the story of the creation and surveying of the Kentucky/Tennessee line. Very interesting reading and will answer your question. KAPS is set to launch a new website any day now which will have that book and others available to purchase online. It can be purchased by contacting Molly at the KAPS office at this time.
As a former PLS in TN (#1408) and KY (#2624) I find this very interesting! Keep it coming Jon!
4 Steps West
Thanks for the heads up on the book Tom. I’d like to get a copy of that and I’ve bookmarked the KAPS website. The “Berry” side of my family was in Kentucky from the late 1700s or so until my branch of the family skedaddled up to Kansas after my great grandmother poisoned my great grandfather in the 1890s. I’ve got a cousin here that visited Kentucky to do some family research a couple three years ago and we scheme of going back there together to haunt old courthouses and cemeteries and jails and insane asylums to trace my family tree.
4 Steps West
Mike
I lived right across the holler from Ersel Berry my whole life and holler is the right word. Every morning he would start "dog cursing" at a pack of about 20-40 coon hounds and keep it up most of the day as they got underfoot. Ran a moonshine still back in the woods, alway had a couple guns within reach at any time and died of black lung fairly young. A couple of weeks ago I surveyed "Mommy and Poppy Berry's house". That was Ersel's parents who have been dead for 3 decades. You may have kin right next door to me.
Hijack
Tom,
Just wanted to let you know how great the entertainment at the conference was. You, your wife, and William Paris did a fine job of playing and singing. Everyone who stuck around in the hospitality room for that really enjoyed themselves.
Jon
