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Thanks Gnikhog! I couldn't figure out why the conversion kept coming up as a point near the equator! It is a little tedious but I might whip up a quick perl script to pull the sheets and dump the data out. That's the nice thing about consistently formated data is that you can programmatically get what you want out of it.

Hello all, For those of you looking for BMs in Massachusetts, the Mass Highway Department offers a website that maps out both NGS marks with PIDs as well as state marks (MAGS) that have been set all over the state. Very useful for finding references to those weird marks that show up when you're looking for something else. The one downside to the site for us GPSr users is that the coordinates on the datasheets are all in UTM format. I haven't had the best of luck getting things converted, but I'm sure one of you out there knows more. I was using a spreadsheet from http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/UsefulData/HowUseExcel.HTM but I couldn't get things to reconcile. I got as far as figuring out that I was in zone 19 and that something must be off in the units of measurement from the datasheets to the spreadsheet (a factor of 10 or so). If anyone knows of a web based conversion or if you're more of the mind to play with the spreadsheet, drop a reply here. Thanks!

Yeah, the washed out photos are a big letdown. One way to minimize the washout is to cover about halfway with your finger. I recently took a picture for my TB that I used this for.

Unfortunately, Mass Highway has removed their Adopt-A-Highway page with no trace of it about the site

Set a waypoint for your garage, get a cache approved, and set us loose on finding your beloved GPSr

Can't that guy read... "DO NOT DISTURB"

Interestingly, the actual monumenting year is not known exactly for nearly all of the "1846" marks in MA. According to a NOAA document on the history of geodetic surveys, there were many surveys completed in the state from 1834-1838. These were mandated by the Commonwealth in order to prepare maps. The results were not published until 1846, thus resulting in a large number of marks listed for that year. Yeah, definitely! I'm intrigued by MY5050 which is not in the database due to a lack of descriptive text. It has coordinates and I occasionally have access to a boat in that area, so why the heck not check it out! I haven't been benchmarking long, but I don't know that finding marks with spray painted arrows pointing at them is really my cup of tea. I'm a long way from being up to finding these really difficult ones, but I'm willing to give them all a try with the idea that I can keep coming back to try again!

Oh certainly I've driven by this area and the odds are it was lost under a house anyway. It's an interesting thing to think about, but really it's probably all for naught. I think I'll be chasing down the bolt mentioned earlier.

I feared that Many of the ones in my area were marked DNF by the 1930's CGS surveys of the area, so I didn't hold too much hope for amateur me! Maybe if I had one of those underground imaging rigs, the so-called ground sonar... As a point of interest, any idea what these things look like? I've been to a number of mark picture galleries, but I've never seen a cone. I would imagine it's just as it's name says, a cone made of earthenware, but perhaps someone has saved one that would have been destroyed and posted a pic. Curious is all

Hello, I've lurked here on the forums for a bit and searched for a previous post about this subject without luck. My question is about finding an earthenware cone benchmark. Odds are this benchmark, MY4778, is long, long gone. That said, how would one go about finding one of these? Has anyone tried one of these before? I'd like to at least take a look around the area and be able to report a fair DNF after some searching! I have a number of old benchmarks in my area that have never been recovered since their initial log. I'd love to track them down and an 1846 one would be quite a catch! How many points would that be worth? Thanks a bunch!