Disturbed Stone Survey Marker
This is a sad story about the stone survey marker shown in the photograph. A story that is all too common in these times. It makes me wonder if people would be more resistant to disturbing survey markers such as this stone if they could only return to realizing how important they are in their original position. Perhaps they would realize the importance if they knew that finding them undisturbed may reduce the work necessary to locate a boundary and hence the cost.
We can speculate, based on the historical record that this stone marked an angle in a town highway layout dated 1892 and was undisturbed until recently. In the photograph there is evidence of a surveyor??s flagging tape around the stone. There are also two survey witness stakes tied with similar flagging tape in the vicinity of the stone that are not shown in the photograph.
As flagging tape ages it loses its color, becoming whitish and brittle. The flagging tape in the photograph and on the stakes reclining nearby indicate that the stone and its accessories may have been disturbed a few years ago. The presence of the survey flagging and stakes should have alerted those who maliciously removed the mark.
The area of the stone??s current location shows evidence of landscaping activity, and prominent wood chips. Sadly wood chips have seemingly become more important than ancient survey markers. In conclusion it would be my advice to land owners that what obviously appears to be a survey marker should not be treated as something insignificant. Once removed, a survey mark can never be returned to its original position.
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