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Tuatha De Danann

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Everything posted by Tuatha De Danann

  1. Some of the stations surveyed and monumented by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon between 1770 and 1775 are included in the benchmark database in www.geocaching.com because they have a (later) benchmark disk added on. Clearly, these monuments are older than the US Geological Survey itself as well as the NOAA database of benchmarks. The Mason and Dixon survey was the foundation for the US Geological Survey since much later work is based upon it. Just run queries along the Mason and Dixon Line as well as the Maryland-Delaware boundary to find benchmarks that were surveyed between 1770 and 1780. BUTTERMILK is a benchmark on the north side of New York City that is for all intents and purposes, a Bucket List Pilgrimage for all Benchmark Hunters/Trig Point Baggers everywhere. The photos included in entries on the benchmarking pages of www.geocaching.com show this early (earliest?) mark quiet well. The oldest mark in every state is a Bucket List to contemplate. I still need to head out to search for GZ2695 (Rohan Reset) in Kentucky where I live. This was monumented in 1833 so it is only a little bit younger than BUTTERMILK and about an hour's drive from home for me. (The last entry for ROHAN RESET was made in 1952 so I don't think I shall bump into any other Benchmark Hunters while searching for this one.) I would love to grab the oldest mark in California. San Diego? I can dream.
  2. Addedendum to the addendum to the addendum: I submitted a MISSING PID/Missing DATA SHEET report to the NGS-NOAA email contact for a US GELOGICAL SURVEY benchmark monument I found that was not in the NGS-NOAA database and received a quick reply to the effect that that benchmark was not maintained by the NGS and I should submit my report to the US Geological Survey. I requested the original datasheet for the 'missing' monument using my observed position data from the US Geological Survey and received an email response within 24 hours. The email contained attached copies of pdf files showing the original datasheets for 'my' monument and gave me an email address to request them directly in the future. They still are not included in the NGS database nor on the Geocaching.com website, but, what the heck! A bagged benchmark is a bagged benchmark whether it was erected by the Roman Empire or the NGS! Since the USGS datasheets are only available on paper, it is probably logistically impossible to load them onto a database such as Geocaching.com. The email for requesting USGS datasheets directly is mcmcesis@usgs.gov. The datasheets I received are not as detailed as NGS datasheets but they are sufficient to identify and locate marks. Maybe someone will eventually write a program that will enable Geocachers to load the 'lost boys' of the benchmark community to the Geocaching.com website.
  3. I have observed and photographed several of the Mason and Dixon markers placed on the (wait for it) Mason and Dixon Line between 1769 and 1774. Some of these have been adopted by the NGS and have PID numbers, some do not. The Granddaddy of the US Geological Survey is BUTTERMILK north of New York City. This was placed in 1833 and is like Mecca for Benchmark hunters/Trigpoint Baggers. Many states have benchmarks erected in 1833 after BUTTERMILK's date. I am planning an expedition to observe the one placed in my home state of Kentucky in 1833. Since it has not been observed in many years, it would be a big find for any Benchmark hunter.
  4. Thanks you to Cerberus1 for noting that everything has basically been turned into a game. That is truer every day as techno-nerds find more grist for the game. It may interest some Geocachers to know that the NGS-NOAA website that we all know and love for looking up data sheets has instructions for us (Geocachers) to file reports of recovered marks and destroyed marks. They include helpful instructions for field notes the way an actual surveyor does the job and supply agency identifiers for different personnel. Geocachers use the agency code, GEOCAC. Yes, that's right, Geocachers have an agency code!! We can file reports electronically, on paper, or via email. It would of course, be nifty if the world coordinated all nerd hobbies into one big fat website so we could post it and view the statistics in one place but failing that, it is gratifying to know that at least one federal agency graciously welcomes techno-nerds to help make the world a well mapped place! I am currently preparing my first report but I'm not blabbing to you guys yet because I WANT THE First to report honors on a few of these bad boys before the field becomes crowded. See you in the posted standings!
  5. Strictly speaking, Benchmark Hunting does not HAVE to be imbedded within the Geocaching.com forum. While looking up a piece of geographical data, I came across a website for 'Trig Point Bagging' in England. It referred to bagging or finding any benchmark monument in England, Scotland, or Wales not just trig points. Using the term, 'Trig Point Bagging', I checked to see whether other English speaking countries had techno-nerds hunting for benchmark monuments and confessing to it online as well. As I recall, I tracked down a website for both Ireland and Canada. Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Nigeria, wherever the Empire went is certainly also a candidate. So, if an avid BM Hunter is heading out for vacation in an English speaking country or former English colony, it would be well worth paying for a one year subscription to an online service so he or she could print up data sheets and then post any BM finds OVERSEAS! I also searched for an online service for benchmark hunting in Sweden (which has one of the oldest ordnance survey departments on Earth) and the total size of the BM hunting community was much smaller so the number of entries was also a bit thinner. The photos and recovery notes were top shelf work of course, but it may be that the total number of BM recovery entries in a single US state is about the same as all of western Europe. It is illuminating to see what a standard Trig Point (Theodolite Platform) looks like in different countries. I wouldn't mind if the US Geological Survey copied the British Flush Mark for use as a witness post in urban settings. They look almost as good as BM disks but have that secret Egyptian symbol language feel about them. We don't want anyone but the true Cognosenti speaking the Unseen Community's codes!
  6. Was gonna say, "Sure, you can ask , just send your request to the Help Center", then realized benchmarks don't seem to fit in any request drop down. Though in reality, unless they finally counted benchmarks as finds in the US, and get a heckofalot more folks interested than what's here, that's more than likely never gonna happen.
  7. According to foxtrot xray above, most benchmarks are not listed on www.geocaching.com. Can we submit a request for a specific benchmark to be listed so that we can bag them? Who would one submit such a request to?
  8. If you run a query using the coordinates from my previous entry, you can look at all the finds posted on www.geocaching.com for the BUTTERMILK mark (not the nifty historical plaque but the actual mark and various reference marks.) The data USGS data sheet is included, as always, and the Geocachers who bagged it were actually a surveyor team which made dozens of photos which show marks as well as tens of thousands of dollars of modern survey equipment which very few Geocachers will ever have access to. The 'data sheets' for the Mason and Dixon survey monuments are the field notes and final report to the Chancery Court in England of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. A trip to the historical society in Baltimore would afford you access to documents as well as, at least one actual piece of the survey equipment used by the 40 or so member survey team under Mason and Dixon. This survey probably wrapped up around 1774. The Historical Survey Society used to sell a CD with an Excel file listing the Pennsylavnia/Maryland monuments as well as the Maryland/Delaware monuments. You can use that to locate, observe, and photograph many stone boundary markers from the colonial era since they are actually the basis for the modern boundaries. Some of them are also listed as benchmarks on www.geocaching.com and some are not. You might enjoy reading Drawing the Line: How Mason and Dixon Surveyed the Most Famous Boundary in America if you are going to try to 'bag' a large number of M&D monuments. For other English speaking countries, try going online to find Trig Point Bagger websites since www.geocaching.com cannot be used to bag these. I also note that some USGS medallion benchamrks ARE NOT listed on www.geocaching.com although they are still there in plain sight to be observed and photographed! I have found, by luck, marks inside of Mammoth Cave as well as surface marks in Kentucky on public property but cannot bag them on www.geocaching.com, presumably because the Park Service or other government agency does not want them published in a nonprofessional forum.
  9. The oldest mark I can find a United States Geological Survey data sheet for is BUTTERMILK. This monument is a drill hole in a boulder at N 41 06.606' W 073 48.624" (north of New York City.) From the aerial imagery, it appears to be on a farm and the landowner may or may not grant permission to walk across. Additionally, the various stone survey markers for the Mason and Dixon Survey were all surveyed and originally monumented BEFORE 4 July 1776 using fieldstone or stone milled in England and shipped to Pennsylvania. Some of these stones have USGS medallions added on.
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