This was good information. My father knew where the property lines were, but when he gifted the land to me, I did not know. I had a survey done. The lines were exactly where he said they were. I was amazed. He left me a great inheritance.
I did a stint as a property surveyor for about 4 years. Some of the most common rural property markers we found were car or truck axles driven in the ground and RR spikes driven into trees. Our most used tool was our metal detector. Interestingly when we found RR spikes in trees, the longer it had been there, the higher in the tree it was found. RR spikes were also commonly driven into roadbeds eight in the middle of the road. Good vid!
We got a 8 acre bonus on the previous property we bought. It was advertised as 17 acres. The latest survey was in 1904 so we paid to have it surveyed. The parcel ended up being 25 acres.
I mark boundary lines as a side job sometimes. These are great clues. Often, corners are marked with mill stones and or metal posts in an 3 post arrangement.
Great information Troy, I bought 20 acres in the late 70s it had the barb wire in the trees, when I went to the courthouse to look up and trace the deeds I went back to an 1840 deed that mentioned a Walnut tree on the corner of the property next to the road. In 1978 the tree stump was still their.
Property surveys are not expensive, depending on acreage. Pay to have it professionally surveyed. It provides great peace of mind and a legal basis. The information provided here may give you an indication of the property lines but not even close to knowing precisely where the line is.
When the County resurfaced our road they moved the marker in the road 8' to the east * now the property we purchased all shifted 8' * problem our driveway is not on our property now but was then * why would they move the marker in the road after years & years of being 8' to the west? Where do I get this resolved?
Thank you for the good advice. I just bought 23 acres in Connecticut, and I’m interested to know in more detail where my borders are. One border is a stream, and there are a couple of dry stack stone walls that are not borders. Interesting.
My property in Spokane had a "bearing marker" on a tree. That makes surveying a snap! Bearing markers are scattered about, all over America, and surrounding land (not sure how far each way) is described based on that marker... The tree was old, dead and just a nasty snag, but it could not be removed without permission and an official person on hand. I notice on google maps they have since cut the top part of the tree off, leaving just the chest high stump w/bearing tag. I screen shot it, and may post it to your FB though you can't read the tag..... I wish I'd have taken a pic of it way back then.
Modern surveys can cause many issues. We lost land on two sides and gained on two sides. All the property is pastureland and the lines have been marked by fences for 100+ years. Lines are established by adverse possession. If you have pastureland, satellite maps can give you an idea of where property lines "should" be. We can see section lines marked by trees on fencing that extends for miles in all directions.
Property lines that are claimed by adverse possession only change if it so ordered by a court of appropriate jurisdiction. Adverse possession is a complex matter and requires proof.
I just mark it out on Google Maps, save it, and download it to a Garmin GPS. Then you can walk to within feet of the boundaries and start looking for the corners.
A tax map is not worth a crap, the property line trees are called Monument tree's both land owners own that tree. Troy my deed and survey is back in 1884 was measured in poles 1 pole = 16 1/2 feet and one rule of thumb is Monuments over measurement it dont matter if its 2 feet or 500 feet Monument is over measurement great Video Troy !!! the funny thing is the Survey guy got payed $12 for the whole job of 148 Acres back in 1884
If you are in one of the rectangular states you should get the original field notes for the tract you are trying to find. I am talking about the notes the original surveyor made back in the 19 century. They will tell you what was set at the original corners and how the witness trees and line mark trees are marked. Plus it will give you the true dimensions of your original section.
Most states outside of the 13 original colonies were divided using the Public Land Survey System (PLSS). The original notes are available from various governmental agencies. Interesting fact, even if the corner is set in the wrong place, it’s still the corner. 🤔
I used a tax map or platt for the coordinates (available from the county courthouse) and use a gps program on my cell phone. I marked every pin on my 57 acre wooded property with a iron pipe driven in the ground and leave 2 ft above ground and painted the pipes yellow then wrap 3 colors of survey tape on the pipes. then I choose a large tree near the pin and wrap surveyors tape on the tree or mark the tree with a piece of aluminum roof flashing.
Good advice about tax maps. For the property we just purchased, on the tax map website it says “there is no geometry available for this parcel”. It doesn’t appear that any of the bordering properties have a survey on file either.
@@RedToolHouse oh we are getting a survey but they are really backed up with the boom in property sales. It has a lot of fenced pasture in place but that doesn’t seem to be the boundary.
Trees were common property corners in old surveys. If the tree is not there and there is no stump or evidence then you'll have to pay a licensed surveyor to research, look for, and ultimately reset the property corner with a rod.
wh'at we are trying th'is saturday is a small contractor with gps to try to biuld us somekind of trail for a fence line atv tractor trail..on th'e back side of our mountain...the counties plot tax map is way off 'all the markers are 'gone''''other words we dont no were th'e property line is on our back side of th'e property...hope that this gps giuded trail will save us a survay..we do no two sides of property..but the mountain has its ways of reclaiming man made objects overtime.
