Property boundaries location with 100-year survey plan
Thanks a lot.
I am hitting the road tomorrow and going to be in the area tonight. After, 2 days of hard work.
I can go to that 4 mile point using the GPS of TCS7. It wasn't relocated. Ossian township is still there as 100 years ago and has 0 inhabitants. When I look at aerial photos on google maps I do not see an appropriate location or any cuttings. It looks like the post is in the forest. That gives me hope that it is still there.
I use AutoCAD for my plans, bearings, and distances. The only question is will the coordinates be the same when I convert them from a local system to UTM?
ok, all right. I am back from the field.
It was impressive.
I went to the township border first and found nothing. If I had been smart, I would have found out about the township border meridian first.
The situation: I was looking in rough terrain signs of something artificial within concentric circles of 5-10-15 meters from the estimated coordinates. Disappointing. Just the forest. No courage to use a metal detector. When you are in the field, you understand that you are just unprepared.
Then I jumped to the second pivotal point. It is on the intersection between 3 claims, where the basic bearing for the whole survey starts.
I still can't believe it because I found something really valuable 27 meters away from the estimated point. 27 meters even with circles is the pure fortune in a dense marshy forest.
The metal detector played its role. The finding was at the depth of 4-5 inches covered with moss and roots.
I was really excited to hold that rod in my hand like a handshake from 1925.
Look at the pictures, please.
Ok, so you found it and then removed it? Cool.
1. Great luck!
2. We all hope you put that pin back where you found it.
3. Now that you have a pin, you have something to adjust your search grid to for the other pins.
4. When you consider the bearings from that point to the others, perhaps it might be wise to consider how the records were created: What was their basis of bearings?
5. Once you have that nailed down, you search for your second point.
6. Now you have a rotation, some idea of how closely the measurements on the ground match the records, and your search area hopefully goes from 27 meters to 1 meter.
Good find and nice pictures. the prettiest picture would have been the one you took after putting the rod back in the same place you found it.
I found it twisted. I have left it in place, of course.
Thank you, dmyhill
I appreciate your clear understanding of my surveying problems.
Yes, I know the basic bearing. It is stated in the plan and it starts exactly from the found point. This will be the goal of my next field trip.
I would be very thankful if I could get more understanding about township boundaries. For example, in my case, the plan says a 4-milepost on the western border of the township. I assume the border goes along a particular meridian and has a certain longitude. This way I could narrow down to a tolerance the search zone so that only latitude remains that also be easily estimated as 4 miles from the corner if I am not mistaken. So, the start point of surveying is already defined mathematically, no need to tie it to the creek mouth or even to the found consecutive point.
Could you explain the meaning of the 4-mile post, please? Where is the zero-mile mark? Can the exact longitudinal coordinates be found online?
Unless there is a recent survey along the western township line it will be impossible to establish a longitude exactly There are on-line resources in the states, one is called earthpoint. I expect to see those being off somewhere between 20 to 150'. However, 1500' isn't unheard of. I will assume that MM4 is 4 miles from either the NW or SW of the township., depending on the direction run. There should be some sort of record for the township, such as plats and notes.
