Surveyor Bausenswein, in 1878, on the original plat of the Village of Ogema, Price County, WI, describes the SW corner of Lot 1, Block 1 as "a stone 5" x 6" x 6' Marked by a 3/4" hole in the top".
There have been at least two highway construction projects that COULD have removed the stone and prior to the last project there was a concrete sidewalk right over the top of the location of the corner. The top of the stone was found 21" below the surface.
With apologies to Jerry Penry 🙂 I did not brush it and give it a bath before I took the picture!
There will be a corner restoration form (tie sheet) prepared, including shiney, brand new coordinates!
Nice find, that's always fun.
Leave a nice big magnet next to it too!
I'm astonished it is still there after all the construction over the years. Most of us (including me) would have assumed it was long gone and searched for a possible replacement, but to find the original stone... Good job, well done.
Nice job! It's always a kick finding old original corners everyone else assumed had been lost to the ravages of time. :good:
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
Great find!
But did you verify the 5 inches by 6 inches by (6 feet?) or was that a typo?
> Great find!
>
> But did you verify the 5 inches by 6 inches by (6 feet?) or was that a typo?
Thanks!
Yes, I measured 5" x 6" on the top portion. And the hole, reported to be 3/4" dia. was closer to an inch. I attribute the larger size to the 'float' when using a star drill. But the 6' feet... you'll have to forgive me for not verifing that dimension. I do believe 6' is correct. As you can see, I did dig down along one side for about 18" and then tried prying on it edge with solid bar to see if it maybe was a portion of the original, possibly broken off, but no - this thing was very solid which is why I believe it is 6' long as stated on the plat. On the original plat, this stone was shown as being 200 feet from the centerline of the railroad. The location of the rails were perpetuated prior to the removal of the tracks about 25 years ago. From the recovered centerline marks, I measured 199.84 feet. Thats good in my book!
> Good job, well done.
Thanks Bruce.
> Leave a nice big magnet next to it too!
Heck, with that big hole in the to of the stone, just drop a magnet in the hole.
> Nice job! It's always a kick finding old original corners everyone else assumed had been lost to the ravages of time. :good:
Thanks!
This isn't the first one I found after others reported a corner missing. Maybe they 'assumed' missing or maybe didn't look or maybe didn't look hard enough or maybe not in the right place...
I usually don't but I've "assumed" before. This one was different. From the day I first saw the original plat and visited the site, I just had "a feeling" about it. Hard to explain but I knew I shouldn't ignore that feeling. I really didn't have solid plans for yesterday (yes, I dug it on Sunday) but after seeing this statement in church yesterday morning, I drove 70 miles to look for it:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes.
Yes, it was "wonderful in our eyes"! I found it by probing within 15 minutes of getting there and about 20 minutes later, I had it exposed as in the picture! Wonderful is a good word!
Beautiful!
I like 'em a little dirty.
That is some monument, my calculations put it over 200 pounds. One-man survey crew isn't likely to set many of those these days.;-)
> That is some monument, my calculations put it over 200 pounds. One-man survey crew isn't likely to set many of those these days.;-)
I agree. Its a dandy. This little town was a railroad town, surveyed and platted by railroad surveyors. This is a sandstone, not native to the area so it most likely came up the rails with the survey crew. They planted two of these stones in the original plat and an additional stone in the 2nd addition. The one in the 2nd addition was set at the cl-cl point but the town didn't grow as expected and the road was not built over that stone. It is still there... much easier to find! Here's that one:
That's AWESOME
Thank you for posting that, Dave.
That is a "Surveying moment to remember."
Don
That right there is survey eye candy. Nice job! Bausenswein would be proud. If you're inclined to reflect on what the world was like when Bausenswein and crew were planting that behemoth of a stone, you can start here: 1878
But, it's leaning 0.04 to the north
Better straighten that baby up.
Great find! Thanks for sharing. This may help to wake up some of the buttonpushers out there who assume anything older than their smart phone can't possibly still exist.
Awesome job. Glad you had the tenacity to look for it when many others would of just proportion it.
What a find! Good job Dave!