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Details for Benchmark: PD1041

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N 44° 59.217 W 067° 28.002 (NAD 83)

Altitude: 734

Coordinates may not be exact. Altitude is VERTCON and location is ADJUSTED. (more info)

Location:
In WASHINGTON county, ME View Original Datasheet
Designation:
COOPER=WESTERN RIDGE
Marker Type:
bolt
Setting:
in rock outcrop
Stability:
Most reliable and expected to hold position/elevation well.

Reference Points

Nearest

Navigation

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Found it 9/25/2007 Papa-Bear-NYC found PD1041 (NGS Benchmark)   Visit Log
My wife and I took a 10 day vacation to Down East Maine and to the Bay of Fundy. With the myriad of stations in that area I had to be selective in what I went to look for (after all this was a vacation, not a benchmarking trip). I decided to go after two sorts of marks: boundary markers of various sorts, and triangulation stations which where part of the survey for the Eastern Oblique Arc, done in this area in the 1850s. A surprising number of these marks have survived in this area.

Today was the day we had to leave Saint John, New Brunswick. We decided a drive to the Boston are was much too much, so we headed for Bar Harbor for one last day in the scenic down-east of Maine. After studying the map of the Eastern Oblique Arc, I thought bagging Rye and Cooper would be possible on the way to Bar Harbor. Rye was a major disappointment (see QF0932)
but Cooper seemed a pretty easy prospect with a road up to a lookout tower and the mark centered under the tower.

Still smarting from my experience on Rye Hill, we drove back to Route 1 and went down Maine Route 191 about 10 miles to Cooper Hill. My DeLorme gazetteer showed a short dirt road up the hill labeled "Tower Road". Sounded good.

When we got there, we found Tower Road was easily drivable and when I pulled in next to the lookout tower I could actually see the mark without getting out of the car! What a contrast: Rye with .6 miles of brambles and no mark; Cooper a drive up with the mark literally jumping out to greet you.

I was happy to get Cooper. It was a veritable hub for the triangulation of eastern Maine. One slip up: I searched in vain for the two reference marks. The distances from the station were given on the datasheet, but no bearings or directions. It wasn't till I got to Bar Harbor that I realized that Cooper RM1 had it's own PID with directions, accurate latitude and longitude (i.e. it was GPSable), everything (including directions to find RM2)! And I had actually printed out that datasheet but neglected to look at it when I was up there! Duh!

Photos:
photoPD1041 - COOPER=WESTERN RIDGE, Cooper ME
The lookout tower. The mark was centered under it in plain sight.
photoPD1041 - COOPER=WESTERN RIDGE, Cooper ME
The base of the tower. The mark is in the light spot in front of the left end of the concrete block.
photoPD1041 - COOPER=WESTERN RIDGE, Cooper ME
There was paint around the mark which would indicate it still gets some use.
photoPD1041 - COOPER=WESTERN RIDGE, Cooper ME
Closeup of mark.

Documented History (by the NGS)

1/1/1859 by CGS (MONUMENTED)
DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1859 STATION COOPER 1859 IS A COOPER BOLT SET INTO BEDROCK UNDERNEATH AND IN THE APPROXIMATE CENTER OF THE LOOKOUT TOWER. THE DISTANCE BETWEEN COOPER 1859 AND COPPER R.M. 1 WAS TRAVERSED.
1/1/1913 by CGS (GOOD)
RECOVERY NOTE BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1913 STATION IS ON THE HIGHEST HILL IN THE TOWNSHIP OF COPPER, KNOWN AS WESTERN RIDGE OR COOPER HILL. THE HILL IS ABOUT 750 FEET HIGH AND COVERED WITH TIMBER. A FIRE LOOKOUT TOWER IS BUILT DIRECTLY OVER THE STATION. STATION MARK IS A COPPER BOLT SET IN A HOLE IN THE ROCK. A COPPER BOLT MARKING THE OLD LATITUDE STATION OF 1859, SET IN THE SOLID LEDGE OF ROCK, IS 14.0 METERS W AND 1.3 METERS S. DRILL HOLES IN ROCKS ARE AT THE FOLLOWING RANGES AND DISTANCES FROM THE MARK--IN RANGE WITH CHAMCOOK, 3.84 METERS. PRINCE REGENTS REDOUBT, 4.48 AND 40.81 METERS. GRAND MANAN, 4.27 AND 37.55 METERS. AND TRESCOTT ROCK, 3.66 METERS.
1/1/1955 by CGS (GOOD)
RECOVERY NOTE BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1955 (HSS) STATION RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION, THE COPPER BOLT BEING FIRMLY IN PLACE, BUT NO ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO FIND THE SEVERAL RANGE HOLES. THE WOODEN FIRE LOOKOUT TOWER MENTIONED IN PREVIOUS RECOVERY NOTES WAS REPLACED IN 1937 BY A STEEL TOWER CENTERED, WITHIN A FOOT OR SO, OVER THE STATION. A CAR MAY BE DRIVEN DIRECTLY TO THE STATION FROM ROUTE 191 OVER A ROAD WHICH WAS BUILT IN 1955 TO GIVE ACCESS TO A MICROWAVE RADIO STATION NEARBY. A 300-FOOT RADIO MAST WAS SOON TO BE ERECTED, WITH ITS CENTER ABOUT 250 FEET A LITTLE EAST OF SOUTH FROM THE TRIANGULATION STATION.
1/1/1960 by CGS (GOOD)
RECOVERY NOTE BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1960 (HRL) THE STATION WAS RECOVERED AS DESCRIBED. THE COPPER BOLT MARKING THE STATION WAS FOUND IN GOOD CONDITION AT THE APPROXIMATE CENTER OF THE LOOKOUT TOWER OF THE MAINE FOREST SERVICE. BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE OF THIS TOWER AN ECCENTRIC SITE (COOPER RM 1) WAS OCCUPIED. REFERENCE MARK NO. 1 AND REFERENCE MARK NO. 2 WERE ESTABLISHED. THE STATION IS REACHED AS FOLLOWS--FROM THE JUNCTION OF U.S. HIGHWAY 1 AND STATE HIGHWAY 191 IN EAST MACHIAS, GO NORTH ON STATE HIGHWAY 191 FOR 10.2 MILES. KEEP LEFT FORK AND CONTINUE NORTH ON STATE HIGHWAY 191 FOR 5.65 MILES TO C.A. JOHNSONS CATHANCE LAKE SUPPLY STORE ON LEFT. CONTINUE NORTH ON THE HIGHWAY FOR 3.4 MILES TO A SIDE ROAD LEFT. TURN LEFT AND FOLLOW GRAVEL ROAD WEST FOR 0.35 MILE TO THE LOOKOUT TOWER AND THE STATION. REFERENCE MARK NO. 1, IS A STANDARD DISK SET IN A 12X12 CONCRETE MONUMENT WHICH PROJECTS 4 INCHES ABOVE GROUND. THE DISK IS STAMPED COOPER NO 1 1859 1913. REFERENCE MARK NO. 2, IS A STANDARD DISK SET IN A 12X12 CONCRETE MONUMENT WHICH PROJECTS 4 INCHES ABOVE GROUND. THE DISK IS STAMPED COOPER NO 2 1859 1913. THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE STATION AND REFERENCE MARK NO. 1 WAS TRAVERSED AND IS 65.09 FEET OR 19.841 METERS. THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE STATION AND REFERENCE MARK NO. 2 IS 82.13 FEET OR 25.034 METERS.
1/1/1985 by NOS (GOOD)
RECOVERY NOTE BY NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE 1985 (WVH) THE STATION WAS RECOVERED AT THIS DATE. REFERENCE MARK 1 WAS ALSO RECOVERED BUT REFERENCE MARK 2 WAS NOT. TREES SURROUND THIS STATION, THEREFORE THERE IS NO VIEW FROM THE GROUND. RECOVERED BY G.E.L.

Control Text

  • The horizontal coordinates were established by classical geodetic methods and adjusted by the National Geodetic Survey in March 1998.
  • The NAVD 88 height was computed by applying the VERTCON shift value to the NGVD 29 height (displayed under SUPERSEDED SURVEY CONTROL.)
  • The Laplace correction was computed from DEFLEC99 derived deflections.
  • The geoid height was determined by GEOID99.

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