See three (numbered) insertions below.
Lowell G. McManus
Leesville, Louisiana, USA
----- Original Message -----
From: "aletheiak" <aletheiak@...>
To: <BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 5:02 AM
Subject: [BoundaryPoint] Re: DCMDVAN via Potomac Heritage Trail
> --- In BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "Lowell G. McManus"
> <mcmanus71496@m...> wrote:
> > The Arlington County Department of Real Estate Assessments
> has EVERYTHING on the
> > web, including details on all addresses lots, structures,
> appraisals, and
> > interactive zoomable cadastral and GIS maps. I've just spent a
> fine couple of
> > hours there and in other research. I won't cite all of the steps,
> because it's
> > far to complex, but I have determined the following:
> >
> > The property under construction on the 2002 aerial photo at
> > http://tinyurl.com/3kko5 (which link I posted last night) is a
> development
> > called "The Falls, Lots 1 and 2." Then and now it belongs to
> something called
> > "411 CBR, L.L.C.," the mailing address of which is 1700
> Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
> > Suite 900, Washington, DC 20006 (The Mills Building a block
> from the White
> > House). Note that the name of the limited-liability corporation
> is a cryptic
> > version of the street address 411 Chain Bridge Road. I have
> found references to
> > Carr Capital Corporation (real estate finance and investment)
> and The Kimsey
> > Foundation (after the founder of AOL) in the same Suite 900.
> The 2002
> > construction produced two very large single-family detached
> residences. The
> > sprawling U-shaped one on the end toward the river became
> 409 Chain Bridge Road,
> > while the one near the street remained 411 Chain Bridge
> Road, McLean, VA 20006.
> >
> > From the Arlington County tax maps, I have determined that the
> county boundary
> > (the DCVA boundary prior to 1846) does NOT run along the
> northwest property line
> > of these properties as I supposed last night. In fact, the county
> line splits
> > properties on both sides of the road. These properties must
> have already
> > existed when the boundaries for the new District of Columbia
> were superimposed
> > over them in 1791. From the highly-zoomable GIS maps, the
> county line crosses
> > Chain Bridge Road about 80 feet northwest of the northwest
> boundary of "The
> > Falls," and it encounters the river about 30 feet northwest of the
> same
> > property. Arlington County shows the properties running all the
> way to the
> > river.
> >
> > The lot split by the county line northwest of "The Falls" is 600
> Chain Bridge
> > Road. That's a Fairfax County address, where the even
> numbers are on the side
> > of the road toward the river. So, are the Fairfax County
> assessments on the
> > web? Yes! Guess what: The split lot also belongs to the
> same 411 CBR, L.L.C.,
> > but it has only a one-story block house with a tar/gravel roof
> that was built in
> > 1958 and is in "average" physical condition. Its use is
> described as a "single
> > dwelling or patio house." On the aerial photo, this house does
> a great job of
> > hiding in the trees, but it's a long narrow thing even with the
> back end of the
> > neighboring new construction.
> >
> > The best news of all is that Fairfax County not only has
> cadastral maps, but
> > cadastral aerial photos on the web! If you will go to
> http://tinyurl.com/4gjej
>
> oops
> this apparently isnt working now
>
> or can you tweak it again so it does
(1) It still works for me. In any case, the pre-TinyURL-ized URL is:
http://icare.fairfaxcounty.gov/Forms/MapDatalet.aspx?transParams=..%2fSearch%2fGenericSearch.aspx%3fmode%3dADDRESS%3b9%3bADDRESS%3b%3b%3b%3b%3b%3b%3b%3bchain+bridge%3b%3b%3b%3b%3b1%3b15%3b500%3b0%3bFULLADD+asc%3b2005%3b%3b%3b&idx=12
You'll have to click on "Aerials Layers" at the upper left for a drop-down box
in which you should check "Aerial Photos." In case it still doesn't work for
you, I will send a properly-zoomed photo as an attachment to you individually.
> i do have high hopes that there will be some good news
> what with all this commotion
>
> but i still dont understand how any of the new info i have seen so
> far this morning will actually advance the try
> except for correcting your misconceptions of yesterday
> which however also didnt advance it
>
> well
> realizing that the building line & county line dont match does help
> but only in preventing the mistaken presumption that they do
>
> & contacting the owners to get permission would be pointless in
> this case because of course they wouldnt want anyone messing
> around on their cliff
>
> nor could i penetrate or see the point of arifs or brians new info
> either for that matter
>
> so i hope you will correct me if i am missing something
> but i do believe you are all beating around the bush
> in your most recent additions
(2) I would think that having very close-up aerial photos with the county
boundary and property lines superimposed would be of assistance in locating the
tripoint on the landscape. I do understand what you are saying, however, below
about the difficulty of carrying the line down the bluff.
> whatever is going on atop the cliff might help with the alignment
> at the base of the cliff only if one can see & carry the arlington
> fairfax county line down the cliff
>
> but this has already been done fairly well by foot & eye
> from the pavement change on chain bridge road
> & nothing i have seen here yet seems to improve on that at all
>
> maybe something in what you guys are saying or showing can
> improve on it somehow
> by a hairline
> which would be useful
>
> but i still dont see it yet
>
> the fact that you can develop lots of data doesnt necessarily
> mean the data will be useful
>
> & i dont mean to prejudge what i havent yet seen
> but anyway
> we shall see
>
> one more insert below tho
>
> > , you will find the 600 Chain Bridge Road property
> circumscribed in red with the
> > white county line running through it. You can zoom and pan to
> your heart's
> > content. Enjoy! You can see exactly where and how the county
> line meets the
> > river, although they show it extending into the water where we
> know it doesn't
> > go.
>
> we know fairfax extends into the water for the unknown length of
> the tripointing stitch
> tho arlington doesnt
(3) Until rereading the Maryland section of BUS&SS this morning, I was not
reminded of the 1877 arbitration that changed the MDVA boundary to the low-water
line, thereby neceessitating the stitch to the 1846 DCVA retrocession line at
the high-water mark. That explains the mismatch (perhaps ten feet) between the
riparian property lines and the Fairfax County boundary in the river on the
Fairfax photos, whereas there is no such shown in Arlington County. Thus, it
appears that the land between the high- and low-water marks in Fairfax County is
Virginia public property. Depending on physical conditions of the bank, this
might facilitate legal treking along the river during low water. Come to think
of it, the land between high and low water along the Arlington County bank
should be DC public property.
End of my insertions.
> dcmdvan is
> the fairfax montgomery washington tricounty point too
> or us2dcmdvan3famowa in full regalia
>
> the nearby marker wm1 marks us2dcva3arfawa
>
> end inserts
>
>
> I hope this is a help in finding the tripoint.
> >
> > You should also be aware that the large house next-door
> northwestward at 612
> > Chain Bridge Road is the home of former Virginia Governor
> and US Senator Chuck
> > Robb and his wife Lynda Bird Johnson Robb.
> >
> > Lowell G. McManus
> > Leesville, Louisiana, USA