Surveying marker. They are all over the place. Surveyors use them to triangulate their exact position in a survey. The brass circle with an indented point, a cross, or an L (like this) are common. I've never seen a state border one before though.
Copy/pasting this from an old /r/AskReddit thread about obscure hobbies.
Benchmark hunting. It's an offshoot of geocaching, but instead of going after caches placed by people intended to be found (which are more or less accessible), benchmarks are survey markers that may have been placed in areas now very hard to get to, they're frequently buried or were monumented so long ago that finding them is a challenge in itself. I've found benchmarks after doing hours of poring over old plat maps and survey charts, dug through tax records to find the current property owner of the beach next to a benchmark now underwater, and technically not on private property- but I wanted to ask permission to transit their land to find the thing.
It's a combination of treasure hunt, historical research and bushwhacking- like, I've had to carry a machete. I also ended up in a hospital after injuring my back trying for the oldest benchmark in my state.
But I've learned a lot about the history of my area- one of my favorite "did not find" hunts was a benchmark that was supposed to be on an old railbed. This was a very old section of town and was on what is now essentially a ridge between a subdevelopment and a swamp. Back in the 1920s it was a farm and the land where the subdevelopment stands was much lower/sloped.
The benchmark was described as being x distance one direction from one point, x meters in another direction from the north rail of the east-west rail line, and next to a rail crossing described as a cart crossing built by a farmer.
A couple hours poking around with a compass, GPS, tape measure and probe and I finally concluded it was gone- but I found the remains of the cart crossing, which were quite literally nothing more than some ancient flinders of creosoted wood and some old bolts. Then I found the broken concrete chunks of what was probably the base for the monument (it had been underground).
I guess it doesn't sound exciting, but standing there I was able to picture what the place must have looked like then and gain a little window into history.
It's a great hobby. And good for your health, if you can avoid throwing out your back.
There's some more info and a good story about hunting a specific mark in my original comment
gorrillamist on September 4th, 2017 at 21:14 UTC »
If you commit a crime while stepping over that, do you get charged in both states?
thatmanisamonster on September 4th, 2017 at 22:41 UTC »
Surveying marker. They are all over the place. Surveyors use them to triangulate their exact position in a survey. The brass circle with an indented point, a cross, or an L (like this) are common. I've never seen a state border one before though.
corey_m_snow on September 5th, 2017 at 00:54 UTC »
Copy/pasting this from an old /r/AskReddit thread about obscure hobbies.
Benchmark hunting. It's an offshoot of geocaching, but instead of going after caches placed by people intended to be found (which are more or less accessible), benchmarks are survey markers that may have been placed in areas now very hard to get to, they're frequently buried or were monumented so long ago that finding them is a challenge in itself. I've found benchmarks after doing hours of poring over old plat maps and survey charts, dug through tax records to find the current property owner of the beach next to a benchmark now underwater, and technically not on private property- but I wanted to ask permission to transit their land to find the thing.
It's a combination of treasure hunt, historical research and bushwhacking- like, I've had to carry a machete. I also ended up in a hospital after injuring my back trying for the oldest benchmark in my state.
But I've learned a lot about the history of my area- one of my favorite "did not find" hunts was a benchmark that was supposed to be on an old railbed. This was a very old section of town and was on what is now essentially a ridge between a subdevelopment and a swamp. Back in the 1920s it was a farm and the land where the subdevelopment stands was much lower/sloped.
The benchmark was described as being x distance one direction from one point, x meters in another direction from the north rail of the east-west rail line, and next to a rail crossing described as a cart crossing built by a farmer.
A couple hours poking around with a compass, GPS, tape measure and probe and I finally concluded it was gone- but I found the remains of the cart crossing, which were quite literally nothing more than some ancient flinders of creosoted wood and some old bolts. Then I found the broken concrete chunks of what was probably the base for the monument (it had been underground).
I guess it doesn't sound exciting, but standing there I was able to picture what the place must have looked like then and gain a little window into history.
It's a great hobby. And good for your health, if you can avoid throwing out your back.
There's some more info and a good story about hunting a specific mark in my original comment