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Hey I Found A Meridian Marker


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I found a Meridian marker in central Ohio only it does not line up with any major Meridian lines on any maps I am thinking that it was placed as "BENCHMARK" to help lay out the nearby town. This marker doesn't appear on any maps, nor is it listed in local history books and it is not in the Benchmark data base in Geocaching. Does anyone have information these things if so please reply. It is a White Marble post six feet high one foot by one foot square. It has an inscription that says "TRUE MERIDIAN" it has a brass plate covering what appears to be a device that folds out of the post. I am unable to post a photo of this object. ;):D

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Meridian markers were quite common during the late 1800s. Often, they were called Longitiude or Magnetic Stations, and it was common to find them at the county seat.

 

Give us the lat and long and let's see if the group can help you.

 

Paul

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By E-mail, I have sent you a copy of the topo map and and aerial photo. These were obtained from TOPOZONE, based upon the coordinates you furnished.

 

When this mark was set in 1889, it possibly was used as a local "meridian" (or standard) for the subsequent laying out of streets and parcels in the community. It is quite common to find such marks dating from this time period. Often, you find them in a central location (like the lawn of the courthouse), but it is not unusual to see them other places when the elevation is superior to the courthouse. (In this case, the surrounding land is fairly flat. But it is considerably higher than the nearby river.)

 

Rather than being a project of the US Government, this appears to be a mark commissioned by the the officials of the County. Hence, it bears the names of several commissioners. The intials "RS" beside one name might stand for "Registered Surveyor".

 

You might find more information at the local library, historical society, or other places where old copies of the newspaper are maintained. A local surveying office might be able to contribute something to the story--especially if it is an old, established firm.

 

As a last resort, walk into the cemetery office and ask, "Say, what's the story on that monument on the hill?" ;)

 

I hope this has been helpful. I'll close with this request: Bring what you find back to the forum, so all of us can learn.

 

Best regards,

-Paul-

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UNITED STATES LAND SURVEYS

ANALYSIS OF THE SYSTEM.

 

Up to the time of the Revolutionary War,or until about the beginning of the present Century,land,when parcelled out,and sold or granted,was described by

"METES AND BOUNDS" and that system is still in existance in the following States,or in those portions of them which had been sold or granted when the present plan of surveying was adopted,viz.:New York,Pennsylvania,New Jersey,Deleware,Maryland,Virginia,North and South Carolina,Georgia,Tennessee,Kentucky,Texas,and the 6 New England States.

 

To describe land by "METES AND BOUNDS,"

IS TO HAVE A KNOWN LANDMARK FOR A PLACE OF BEGINNING,AND THEN FOLLOW A LINE ACCORDING TO THE COMPASS-NEEDLE OR MAGNETIC BEARING,or the course of a stream,or track of ancient highway.

 

It goes on to say there has been endless confusion and litigation due to the needle not always pointng DUE NORTH.

 

One would have to figure the Magnetic Declination for the date of the monument,then try to re-caculate the lines.

 

Adopted in 1785 on the 7th Day of May to present day The Rectangular System is used that is 2 lines which are at right angles to each other,viz,: +.

 

These 2 lines,from which the measurements are made,are the Principal Meridians, which run North and South.and the Base Lines which run East and West................and much much more.

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These 2 lines,from which the measurements are made,are the Principal Meridians, which run North and South.and the Base Lines which run East and West................

 

Ah HA! I'd been wondering exactly what the relationship is. Hence, many places have the NORTH Meridian and the SOUTH Meridian. Raleigh has EAST BASE and WEST BASE. It makes sense, now! Thanks.

 

-Paul-

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I'll mention this here, and I'll email you as well.

 

Bucyrus High School has a rare copy of an old history book. It's large. It's the only place where you can read an account of the complete wooly mammoth skeleton that was dug up in the 1880's (and eventually ended up with P.T. Barnum, and eventually was destroyed in a fire. If any book would cover your topic..... I think this would. I had a couple of hours with the book when subbing there one day. :rolleyes:

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Here's a map of the Principle Meridians and Baselines of the PLSS

BLM Principle Meridians Map

 

I got seriously side tracked with that web site. I went to the home page to search for a list of the initial points with lat lon thinking it might be a neat thing to add to Google Earth and/or GSAK. But I got started looking up land patients of my ancestors. I got interesting results. I recommend it for those that might be interested in their family history.

 

I never found the list of initial points.

Edited by 68-eldo
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I never found the list of initial points.

 

Found it!

 

Isn't Google great? <_<

 

If anybody is interested I have posed the KML file for the Initial Points here.

 

You will have to copy and paste into notepad and save as a KML file. Then you can open the file in Google Earth.

 

Let me know how it works out for you.

Edited by 68-eldo
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I never found the list of initial points.

 

Found it!

 

Isn't Google great? :)

 

If anybody is interested I have posed the KML file for the Initial Points here.

 

You will have to copy and paste into notepad and save as a KML file. Then you can open the file in Google Earth.

 

Let me know how it works out for you.

 

Works great! Thanks

 

I will be using this for future planning.

 

I just noticed that you have links to www.pmproject.org, of which I have about 6 or 8 of the corners listed, but you are missing the Wind River Meridian.

 

CallawayMT

Edited by CallawayMT
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Let me know how it works out for you.

 

Worked great. Thanks. I liked the links that were there as well. I noticed that at least one of the locations didn't have a link even though it was referenced on the home page of the sight that the other links led you to.

 

I need to make a trip and visit the one closest to my location. Its not far, is easy to get to and I am nearby often.

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Hmmm….I checked my file two different ways and did not find a point that had a web page on Principal Meridian Project that was not in the Google Earth file. I checked the Wind River Meridian and the web link was on my file and on my web page file. If you can point out any that are missing a link I would appreciate it.

 

I should also point out that the coordinates have not been verified by me and I am pretty sure that some are not very accurate. Willamette for example seems to be off by about 0.2 miles. It shows up in a plowed field between two houses. I would appreciate any updates on these points.

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Hmmm….I checked my file two different ways and did not find a point that had a web page on Principal Meridian Project that was not in the Google Earth file. I checked the Wind River Meridian and the web link was on my file and on my web page file. If you can point out any that are missing a link I would appreciate it.

 

I should also point out that the coordinates have not been verified by me and I am pretty sure that some are not very accurate. Willamette for example seems to be off by about 0.2 miles. It shows up in a plowed field between two houses. I would appreciate any updates on these points.

 

Wind River is there for me. I was sure that San Bernadino didn't have a link. That is the one I checked and was referring to....but it is there plain as day now so I must have mis-remembered.

 

Sorry if I caused you unnecessary work.

 

The Willamette Meridian gets a lot of geocacher traffic so the geocaching page might have more accurate coordinates for your file. Willamette Meridian While scanning the logs I saw three that left hand held GPSr coordinates in their logs. There might be photos in the gallery with GPSr units as well. I didn't check those.

 

edit to fix link and speeling

Edited by TheBeanTeam
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Hmmm….I checked my file two different ways and did not find a point that had a web page on Principal Meridian Project that was not in the Google Earth file. I checked the Wind River Meridian and the web link was on my file and on my web page file. If you can point out any that are missing a link I would appreciate it.

 

I should also point out that the coordinates have not been verified by me and I am pretty sure that some are not very accurate. Willamette for example seems to be off by about 0.2 miles. It shows up in a plowed field between two houses. I would appreciate any updates on these points.

 

Wind River is there for me. I was sure that San Bernadino didn't have a link. That is the one I checked and was referring to....but it is there plain as day now so I must have mis-remembered.

 

Sorry if I caused you unnecessary work.

 

The Willamette Meridian gets a lot of geocacher traffic so the geocaching page might have more accurate coordinates for your file. Willamette Meridian While scanning the logs I saw three that left hand held GPSr coordinates in there logs. There might be photos in the gallery with GPSr units as well. I didn't check those.

 

PID for that one is RD3152 and the coordinates are N 45° 31.170 W 122° 44.631 if anybody wants to correct their copy. I will update my webpage.

 

Thanks for the input.

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Hmmm….I checked my file two different ways and did not find a point that had a web page on Principal Meridian Project that was not in the Google Earth file. I checked the Wind River Meridian and the web link was on my file and on my web page file. If you can point out any that are missing a link I would appreciate it.

 

I should also point out that the coordinates have not been verified by me and I am pretty sure that some are not very accurate. Willamette for example seems to be off by about 0.2 miles. It shows up in a plowed field between two houses. I would appreciate any updates on these points.

 

68,

 

The reason I did not see the Wind River Meridian, is because the coordinate on the PM Project page is wrong and you used that; it puts it in Montana and not Wyoming where I was looking.

 

WGS84 coords are: N43 00' 41.0"

W108 48' 51.6"

 

from my visit.

 

CallawayMT

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Hmmm….I checked my file two different ways and did not find a point that had a web page on Principal Meridian Project that was not in the Google Earth file. I checked the Wind River Meridian and the web link was on my file and on my web page file. If you can point out any that are missing a link I would appreciate it.

 

I should also point out that the coordinates have not been verified by me and I am pretty sure that some are not very accurate. Willamette for example seems to be off by about 0.2 miles. It shows up in a plowed field between two houses. I would appreciate any updates on these points.

 

68,

 

The reason I did not see the Wind River Meridian, is because the coordinate on the PM Project page is wrong and you used that; it puts it in Montana and not Wyoming where I was looking.

 

WGS84 coords are: N43 00' 41.0"

W108 48' 51.6"

 

from my visit.

 

CallawayMT

 

Now that was a significant error. Thanks for the correction.

 

That page is the only source I know of for coordinates. If anybody has a better (as in more accurate) let me know.

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Hmmm….I checked my file two different ways and did not find a point that had a web page on Principal Meridian Project that was not in the Google Earth file. I checked the Wind River Meridian and the web link was on my file and on my web page file. If you can point out any that are missing a link I would appreciate it.

 

I should also point out that the coordinates have not been verified by me and I am pretty sure that some are not very accurate. Willamette for example seems to be off by about 0.2 miles. It shows up in a plowed field between two houses. I would appreciate any updates on these points.

 

68,

 

The reason I did not see the Wind River Meridian, is because the coordinate on the PM Project page is wrong and you used that; it puts it in Montana and not Wyoming where I was looking.

 

WGS84 coords are: N43 00' 41.0"

W108 48' 51.6"

 

from my visit.

 

CallawayMT

 

Now that was a significant error. Thanks for the correction.

 

That page is the only source I know of for coordinates. If anybody has a better (as in more accurate) let me know.

 

68-eldo

FYI, I can't get any of the links to work now.

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68-eldo

FYI, I can't get any of the links to work now.

 

Apparently the owner of the web site has not paid his bill for hosting. The domain name is paid until Dec. 3, 2007. I hope he pays. It was a good web site.

 

I contacted the owner of the web site John N Shankland and he told me he was having problems with the hosting service. But it has been resolved and the web site is up again. Thanks go to Mr. Shankland for the web site and his efforts to keep it up.

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