Putting each limb in 4 different states? You’re off by 2 1/2 miles
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30327372/
Guy
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30327372/
Guy
Readings show Four Corners marker off
- Thread starter Teegate
- Start date
4 corners
That is good news. When I was out there, an old Indian squaw wanted to be paid for taking pictures at the point where the four states joined. She insisted that she would be in the picture as a testament to this site. I told her that I would pay her for getting out of the picture. That didn't work either. I never did get a good shot at the corners, now I am glad that If I had taken the picture it woulld have been a fraud. Maybe all those who paid this squaw could now sue her in a court of law for not being at the right spot.
That is good news. When I was out there, an old Indian squaw wanted to be paid for taking pictures at the point where the four states joined. She insisted that she would be in the picture as a testament to this site. I told her that I would pay her for getting out of the picture. That didn't work either. I never did get a good shot at the corners, now I am glad that If I had taken the picture it woulld have been a fraud. Maybe all those who paid this squaw could now sue her in a court of law for not being at the right spot.
The western states were laid out using the public land system of surveying.
Actually 30 out of 50 states use the public land system.
It is clean, rectangular and methodical system and the reason why western states and counties have nice rectangular boundaries.
They think us colonial states are out of our minds with our methods.
The problem comes in when you fail to adjust for the convergence of the meridians (lines of longitude)
Lines of latitude run straight forever around the earth but longitudinal lines converge on the poles and major adjustment is needed as you progress in a northerly direction.
What I find amazing is that the error has gone undiscovered for this long, regardless of the technology used, 2.5 miles is a major error and it should have surfaced long ago.
Here is a crash course in the public land system:
http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/boundaries/a_plss.html
When I took my surveyor's licensing exam, an extraordinary amount is devoted to the public land system.
Not too practical if you are living in NJ but still interesting.
Actually 30 out of 50 states use the public land system.
It is clean, rectangular and methodical system and the reason why western states and counties have nice rectangular boundaries.
They think us colonial states are out of our minds with our methods.
The problem comes in when you fail to adjust for the convergence of the meridians (lines of longitude)
Lines of latitude run straight forever around the earth but longitudinal lines converge on the poles and major adjustment is needed as you progress in a northerly direction.
What I find amazing is that the error has gone undiscovered for this long, regardless of the technology used, 2.5 miles is a major error and it should have surfaced long ago.
Here is a crash course in the public land system:
http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/boundaries/a_plss.html
When I took my surveyor's licensing exam, an extraordinary amount is devoted to the public land system.
Not too practical if you are living in NJ but still interesting.
I remember back when I had to take a surveying class as a requirement for my forestry degree and the professor spent one whole class just going over all the factors that resulted in many of our original surveys being so far off. Between the long-term problems that were inherent in metes and bounds surveying and the fact that surveyors spent days at a time in the woods, with less than ideal equipment and rum being the primary refreshment taken along, it is a wonder that so many of the old surveys are as accurate as they are.
The original article has been updated.
If you click on the link you will see an amendment that says that the error is somewhere in the order of 1800 feet, not 2.5 miles.
It also sas that all 4 states have agreed on the monument as the official location.
Still, a huge error.
If you click on the link you will see an amendment that says that the error is somewhere in the order of 1800 feet, not 2.5 miles.
It also sas that all 4 states have agreed on the monument as the official location.
Still, a huge error.
That is SO BOGUS! How can they do something utterly stupid like that! It is an affront to all anal people like me. Really!
PS: I'll bet money that in just two years, the correct location will be more popular.