Oldest In Texas?

[+Chaz]

There is one here in Boerne (40 Miles NW of San Antonio) from the 1880's. Is there an older one somewhere?

[DaveD]

I'll have to do some checking on Monday, but the first geodetic surveys conducted by the Coast Survey data to at least the late 1850s.

[evenfall]

This is a little off topic but mostly on. Maybe it will help you to find what you are looking for, until Dave D can find you an answer.

 

Through reading the history of the Coast Survey, I learned that here in the State of Washington the initial survey first passed through this area in 1854. To find the stations they set, if still extant, and they are, I looked at the NGS Datasheet Website to find them. I used the county search, using only coastal counties, then I narrowed my search to First Order Horizontal accuracy marks to weed out a lot of what I did not want to see, then I started looking Pid by Pid to see the date of monumentation. I repeated the process to look at Second Order Stations as well. I found 3 Stations which started out in 1854 as Drill Holes that were 1/2 inch wide, 2 inches deep, later re-drilled to fit brass discs in the early 1900's. They are all in remote coastal locations and are still there from visits in recent years. I have read of some in the mainland too but development has destroyed them all. This method is not super fast but it was a fun search for me. I have a few counties to read up on yet if I want to finish this work, but I did find some of what I was looking for. Here is a story about one of them, It is an interesting history when you make the connections.

 

If you like, you can read the official NOAA History of the CGS and it's initial work in Texas Here. Whether any of the marks set from that time are still in existence is hard to say. I do know that the most work and best selection of locations is used for first order Stations in that day and so the likelihood in searching for those Stations and finding them still safe and sound is highest.