thanx jack
great puzzle
& of course i dont know the complete solution
but heres what i think may have happened
1823
original large stone post set 319 feet north of present monument
1840s
tripoint position & monument both moved to present position
1915
monument enlarged & stabilized by surrounding box
1955
pedestal & surrounding circle added
no other changes or displacements
the topo & bus&ss are probably completely correct
it is the newspapers that are suspect
the complexity of the monument may have suggested an
erroneous idea that there were several changes in position
rather than only 1
the proximity to the road may have suggested an erroneous idea
that the displacement had something to do with the road
also that there was some kind of an east to west or west to east
movement rather than the north to south displacement that we
can confirm from bus&ss
the exposed foot or so of the old monument that rises above the
box may have suggested the erroneous idea that it sits only on
top of rather than within the box & was always only 1 foot tall
of course i would like to revisit it to study it some more now
thanx again
great photo too
--- In
BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "jparsell"
<jparsell@n...> wrote:
> Michael,
> I first visited this tri-point June 21,1991. See attached picture of
> Joyce Parsell and Clark Hall taken then. On Sept. 29, 2000
Joyce and
> I were there again. Recently, after all of our discussions on this
> point, I remembered a copy of a newspaper clipping which I
got from
> Mrs. Moreland, owner of the store across the road from the
tri-point
> when we were there in 2000. Sorry I didn't report on it sooner,
but
> I couln't find it until today. This article was from the Tulsa World,
> Dec. 23,1998. Here are excerpts from the article:
>
> The marker, a series of old landmarks that have been cobbled
together
> over more than a century, is, truth be told not much to look at.
> Its top is made up of the first marker, a battered old rock with
an
> 1820s inscription carved into its side.
> It sits atop a larger concrete monument put in place by the
Ozark
> Culture Club in 1915. All of that resides in a concrete circle
divided
> into three parts, each located in a different State and each
containing
> its own little brass map identifying its location.
>
> Mrs. Moreland also had another older article from the Joplin
Globe, April
> 14, 1985 which she was unable to copy for me because of a
problem with
> her copier. Both articles mentioned this location as the
westernmost
> marker for the Mason-Dixon Line.
> This article says that there is a marker in the center of the road
with
> asphalt over it.
> Also says that the original location of the old stone was about
500 ft.
> west, marked "MISR 1823", slightly over 1 ft. high. This stone
was
> constantly getting moved because it was in a wagon road.
There were
> other similar tales, so the conclusion was that no one knows
where it
> was originally.
>
> I don't know whether we can believe these newspaper
reporters, but it
> does add a little fuel to the fire. Even the topo map doesn't help
much.
> See attachment for a 1:12000 NAD83 map of this area. Based
on my
> measurements the marker is about 31 ft. west of the center of
the road.
> Also it is 205 ft. south of the 36d 30'00" line and there is no
mark
> on the map at or near 319 ft. north of the present marker.
>
> Your comments will be welcomed.
> Jack