Very Cool Benchmark Find

[+genegene]

I found a very good BM not to long ago and just wanted to share it with everyone else that come here often, and would love to see what is your very cool find.

 

The more unusual and great story behind the find the better. Please post as written below so it can stay very easy to read and look up. Pics are also very nice to have as well.

 

Benchmark: KU2378

 

Story:

 

I found this one completely by accident while walking around the tower balcony of the Fire Island Light House.

 

As I'm walking around the top of the light house, I just happen to look down and there just wasn't something right about this Nail/Pin like thing sticking up out of one of the cracks of the granite walkway. As I bend over and look at it more closely I could read what looked like the letters BM on it. There was a BM down below that I just found but looked nothing like what I was looking at.

 

Nothing else could be clearly read since it was covered in what looks like tar from the years of maintaining the Light House.

 

I asked the tour guide if it was a BM and she had no idea that there was something written on it let alone that there was anything even there until I pointed it out to her.

After I explained what a BM was, she was just as excited as I was to know if it was truly a USG Benchmark or not.

 

Upon arival home that night, I did a search for BM in the area and low and behold it really is a USCG BM.

 

This is by far the oldest BM that I have ever found and will be the oldest for quite some time. The last time it was logged was in 1962 and and again in 67. Here is the kicker, it was placed in 1865.

Yup that's right 1865.

 

I only wish we had BM that old up here in Western Massachusetts that I could go and look for. We do have some state boundary markers, but there not listed on GC.com, and none of them are this old.

 

I think the best part of finding this BM is that we have a local cacher that does a lot of BM hunting here in Western Mass and when I sent him pics and the BM designation he wanted to know more about it. He had never seen a "KU" and neither had I until this find.

 

On a side note, can anyone help me out with why its a KU and not a BM? in the Database?

 

[+LSUFan]

 

 

I think the best part of finding this BM is that we have a local cacher that does a lot of BM hunting here in Western Mass and when I sent him pics and the BM designation he wanted to know more about it. He had never seen a "KU" and neither had I until this find.

 

On a side note, can anyone help me out with why its a KU and not a BM? in the Database?

 

 

 

Good find there, Genegene.

 

The NGS database that we use, is made up of many benchmarks from different agencies. No matter what agency set out the benchmark, when they are included in the NGS database, they make up a part of the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS).

 

Each benchmark in the NSRS has a 6 digit permanent identifier (PID), which is unique to that benchmark and is a code the NGS uses to identify it........irregardless of what agency placed the benchmark. It works just like the gcxxxxx code that identifies a geocache.

 

The first two letters of the PID (KU in your case), initially identified what part of the country the benchmark was located in. Zhanna has made a map below that shows the two letter code locations. I have seen another, but can't find it right now. Your find in New York does look to correspond with Zhanna's map.

 

http://surveymarks.planetzhanna.com/graphi...refixMapL48.jpg

 

I have also read that as new benchmarks are included in the NSRS, that they may be assigned a prefix code that doesn't correspond with the map above......either because they have run out of numbers for that prefix or other reasons.

 

Hope this helps, and congratulations on your find. Keep up the good work.

Edited July 12, 2010 by LSUFan