Often surveyors talk of finding original undisturbed monuments as the best evidence of a boundary. The monuments set by the original surveyor are said to be without error because they convey the intent of the boundary location and that intent is better than any calculated position.
However, it is rare to find an old boundary monument in good enough condition to tell that story. Here is one of those rare examples found under a fallen tree and after a little brush clearing. This one is a beauty.
I found out the letters are the initials of the owner from a long time ago. That part was easy with the date (1913) being carved into the stone.
Historic boundaries and conservation efforts.
That's awesome
That's a beauty, fer sure!
Kewl. It's not often that you see chiseled letters with serifs!
Where did you find this? And what is the rock type?
Gene Kooper, post: 394833, member: 9850 wrote: Kewl. It's not often that you see chiseled letters with serifs!
Where did you find this? And what is the rock type?
The stone is by a lake in Massachusetts. The only rock we have here is granite. There is plenty of granite.
The serifs are nice. I just noticed them thanks to your comment. I guess I'm still in shock.
Historic boundaries and conservation efforts.
I'll bet the landowner was a Mason.
That is a great find! Thanks for sharing!
Good find.
It all depends where you work and what kind of work you do. For some finding original stones is a very common experience, others will go there whole carrier without recovering one.
Y'all have some fancy stones up there! We have a lot of "cut stones" and every once in a while there will be a rough X chiseled on the top or side, but I don't recall ever finding one with letters carved, especially that nice. That feeling you had when you found it, THAT is what it's all about! At least for me...
Me. "What's the difference?"
T.C. Carroll "It's the difference between right and wrong!"
not my real name, post: 394834, member: 8199 wrote: The stone is by a lake in Massachusetts. The only rock we have here is granite. There is plenty of granite.
The serifs are nice. I just noticed them thanks to your comment. I guess I'm still in shock.
Take a closer look, I believe it is just shadows and not serifs.
When the owner goes to that much trouble, I would expect marked stones at all corners. Without a granite locator much digging may be required.
When you find marked stones like that, get more information than just the center point. I have found some that were fully within the bounds, the exterior corner being the correct point. As such hey may only be marked on two sides.
Paul in PA
Did you dig it out and take it as a token!?!? [emoji48]
Rich., post: 394847, member: 10450 wrote: Did you dig it out and take it as a token!?!? [emoji48]
Like the guy who told me he knew where his monuments were and led me to the side of his garage where he had two neatly stored?
I bet most of us that work with the old boundary markers have a similar story of the marker being taken for display. The one I like to tell is I was hacking into a bush with an attitude (meaning it had thorns), and trying to dig at the ground around it, cause the area around it had all been cleared by a fire not too long before, so the marked stone had to be under this bush if it was there. Well, as I'm turning into one giant piece fo shredded flesh, a rancher drives up. Asked what I'm doing. I explain the marker I'm looking for, and his face lights up, I think great, he knows where it's at! He says, I saw that marker right after the fire, and it was so neat, I took it home, cleaned it up, and it's the centerpiece of my new coffee table!
Monte, post: 394933, member: 11913 wrote: I bet most of us that work with the old boundary markers have a similar story of the marker being taken for display. The one I like to tell is I was hacking into a bush with an attitude (meaning it had thorns), and trying to dig at the ground around it, cause the area around it had all been cleared by a fire not too long before, so the marked stone had to be under this bush if it was there. Well, as I'm turning into one giant piece fo shredded flesh, a rancher drives up. Asked what I'm doing. I explain the marker I'm looking for, and his face lights up, I think great, he knows where it's at! He says, I saw that marker right after the fire, and it was so neat, I took it home, cleaned it up, and it's the centerpiece of my new coffee table!
In some certain situations I'm reluctant to flag an old monument if I suspect it could disappear due to the local fauna (like misbehaving tweakers).
Dave Karoly, post: 394984, member: 94 wrote: In some certain situations I'm reluctant to flag an old monument if I suspect it could disappear due to the local fauna (like misbehaving tweakers).
Yes, it is sometimes better to bury it; than to paint it pink.
Duggie
RADAR, post: 394987, member: 413 wrote: Yes, it is sometimes better to bury it; than to paint it pink.
Duggie
If it's painted pink, it won't look so good as a coffee table decoration.
I know a person or two in these forums has alluded to the use of copious amounts of flagging, but I'm with you guys. The less attention I draw to certain things, the better chance it will remain. I wil knot flagging in the fence, I will place flagging under a rock, I will bury flagging, I will drop a lath in the grass, but some days I feel that setting a lath and putting pink streamers on it is asking to have the monument be taken or destroyed.
You would be surprised....
Peter Lothian - MA ME, post: 395000, member: 4512 wrote: If it's painted pink, it won't look so good as a coffee table decoration.
Great find!
If we found something that pretty around here we would probably think it was a tombstone. Great find. One of my favorite legal descriptions called for a set square stone at a 1/16th corner near Paris, Arkansas, the corner position fell in an old old grave yard full of set square stones, you pick which one.