Destroyed – or not?

[TillaMurphs]

This is a lowly intersection station so I know there is not a lot of significance to this question. I am mainly just curious.

 

How would you report this on Geocaching? (I would never report an intersection station to the NGS, and I don’t even very often log intersection stations on geocaching, however, with all the smileys logged on this one, it has me curious.)

 

The station is described as the LIGHTNING ROD on the top of the steeple. However, a great photo by raiders fan in 2009 confirms what the US Power Squadron stated in 2002 – the lightning rod is gone.

 

I would think if the lightening rod was removed then the station would be destroyed (since the station was specifically described as being the rod)? Would you agree?

 

To add a new wrinkle, when we visited this station last week, we found the church has been completely restored. During the restoration they added a new lightening rod. (It is great that they saved the church when everything else around it was demolished to allow new construction.)

 

 RD2755  HISTORY     - Date     Condition        Report By
RD2755  HISTORY     - 1946     MONUMENTED       CGS
RD2755  HISTORY     - 20020803 POOR             USPSQD
RD2755
RD2755                          STATION DESCRIPTION
RD2755
RD2755'DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1946 (EBB)
RD2755'THE STATION IS THE LIGHTNING ROD ON THE TOP OF THE STEEPLE
RD2755'OF THE METHODIST CHURCH, IN THE N SECTION OF THE VILLAGE
RD2755'OF WILSONVILLE.  IT IS ON THE E SIDE OF STATE HIGHWAY 217, ABOUT
RD2755'0.4 MILE N OF THE WILSONVILLE FERRY.
RD2755
RD2755                          STATION RECOVERY (2002)
RD2755
RD2755'RECOVERY NOTE BY US POWER SQUADRON 2002 (KK)
RD2755'STEEPLE FOUND AS DESCRIBED.  LIGHTNING ROD IS GONE.  THE CHURCH IS NO
RD2755'LONGER IN USE. THE BUILDING IS IN DISREPAIR WITH ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS
RD2755'BOARDED UP.  THE STATION IS ON THE EAST SIDE OF BOONES FERRY ROAD .1
RD2755'MILES SOUTH OF THE INTERSECTION WITH WILSONVILLE ROAD.

 

2009 photo by raiders fan:

 

2009 photo by migeocache:

 

 

What it looked like last week:

 

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

This is a lowly intersection station so I know there is not a lot of significance to this question. I am mainly just curious.

 

How would you report this on Geocaching? (I would never report an intersection station to the NGS, and I don't even very often log intersection stations on geocaching, however, with all the smileys logged on this one, it has me curious.)

 

The station is described as the LIGHTNING ROD on the top of the steeple. However, a great photo by raiders fan in 2009 confirms what the US Power Squadron stated in 2002 – the lightning rod is gone.

 

I would think if the lightening rod was removed then the station would be destroyed (since the station was specifically described as being the rod)? Would you agree?

 

To add a new wrinkle, when we visited this station last week, we found the church has been completely restored. During the restoration they added a new lightening rod. (It is great that they saved the church when everything else around it was demolished to allow new construction.)

 

 RD2755  HISTORY 	- Date 	Condition        Report By
RD2755  HISTORY 	- 1946 	MONUMENTED   	CGS
RD2755  HISTORY 	- 20020803 POOR     		USPSQD
RD2755
RD2755                          STATION DESCRIPTION
RD2755
RD2755'DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1946 (EBB)
RD2755'THE STATION IS THE LIGHTNING ROD ON THE TOP OF THE STEEPLE
RD2755'OF THE METHODIST CHURCH, IN THE N SECTION OF THE VILLAGE
RD2755'OF WILSONVILLE.  IT IS ON THE E SIDE OF STATE HIGHWAY 217, ABOUT
RD2755'0.4 MILE N OF THE WILSONVILLE FERRY.
RD2755
RD2755                          STATION RECOVERY (2002)
RD2755
RD2755'RECOVERY NOTE BY US POWER SQUADRON 2002 (KK)
RD2755'STEEPLE FOUND AS DESCRIBED.  LIGHTNING ROD IS GONE.  THE CHURCH IS NO
RD2755'LONGER IN USE. THE BUILDING IS IN DISREPAIR WITH ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS
RD2755'BOARDED UP.  THE STATION IS ON THE EAST SIDE OF BOONES FERRY ROAD .1
RD2755'MILES SOUTH OF THE INTERSECTION WITH WILSONVILLE ROAD.

 

2009 photo by raiders fan:

 

2009 photo by migeocache:

 

 

What it looked like last week:

 

Wow! That is a great looking church now.

 

A smiley is a smiley and we cannot stop them from having their fun. In this instance, it doesn't even matter since it is/was an intersection station.

 

I guess, if it bothers you, go back every once in a while and repost those pictures once again and let everyone know they are logging it wrongly. Post it as as a note at the top so everyone logging will see it when they go to log.....except those who log with cell phones now.

 

I would not bother to send Emails, it only promotes ill will towards benchmark hunting because it then becomes a personal issue.

 

Shirley~

Edited November 27, 2011 by 2oldfarts (the rockhounders)

[TillaMurphs]

 

I guess, if it bothers you, go back every once in a while and repost those pictures once again and let everyone know they are logging it wrongly. Post it as as a note at the top so everyone logging will see it when they go to log.....except those who log with cell phones now.

 

I would not bother to send Emails, it only promotes ill will towards benchmark hunting because it then becomes a personal issue.

 

Shirley~

 

Hi Shirley,

 

Oops. I probably wasn't very clear. I don't have any interest in commenting to, or correcting (if applicable), previous posters - I was just curious how I should log this on geocaching.

 

My initial feeling it that it is destroyed but I am unsure. That is why I am asking here in the forums. I would like to make sure I am logging it correctly.

 

Thanks,

 

-The TillaMurphs

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

That should be considered destroyed since the point of intersection has been destroyed and the replaced without the proper measurements to qualify as a reset.

 

You could also send the pics to Deb and have her mark it destroyed in the NGS database,since the pictures show it being missing then reappearing at a later time.

 

John

[+Holtie22]

From the perspective of a surveyor, the functionality of this mark as a third order intersection station is not diminished by the replacement of the lightning rod. It is obvious that the steeple remains in its original location. Although the likelihood of its being used by a surveyor is low due to changing technologies, it is certainly capable of serving its original purpose. I would go ahead and add to it's impressive smiley collection.

[holograph]

I agree with Holtie22. A lot of intersection stations like that one were used for mapping purposes, not for precision surveys. Usually the requirement was for precision only as good as the width of a line on a map -- which for the USGS topo maps, is about a dozen feet. As long as the steeple wasn't rebuilt in a different location or changed in architecture in some way, the new rod should be as good as the old rod.

 

Here is one that had to be marked destroyed, as you can see from the photos in the log: LY2576.

 

See this wiki page for some additional information about intersection stations.

[TillaMurphs]

John, Holtie22 and holograph,

 

Thank you. I value your input. Before hearing from you I was heavily leaning towards “destroyed” because the original object was gone. However, I was unsure, because a replacement rod would be “pretty darn close” to the same place.

 

I guess that intersection stations are the one type of control where “pretty darn close” could actually be acceptable.

 

Considering the variation in your feedback, and my confusion, maybe the Power Squadron actually got it right when they reported it as “Found - Poor”.

 

Gentlemen, thank you for the education.

 

holograph, thanks for the interesting link. Sad about the (very) old ornate church and bummer about the bell. I wonder if the bell’s destruction was caused from the heat of the fire and rapid cooling from dousing water or if it was from falling.