What is a benchmark?
A benchmark is a point whose position is known to a high degree
of
accuracy and is normally marked in some way. The marker is often
a
metal disk made for this purpose, but it can also be a church
spire, a radio tower, a mark chiseled into stone, or a metal
rod
driven into the ground. Over two centuries or so, many other
objects of greater or lesser permanence have been used.
Benchmarks
can be found at various locations all over the United States.
They
are used by land surveyors, builders and engineers, map
makers,and
other professionals who need an accurate answer to the
question,"Where?" Many of these markers are part of the
geodetic
control network (technically known as the National Spatial
Reference System, or NSRS) created and maintained by NOAA's
National Geodetic Survey (NGS).
The interesting thing about benchmarks is that a majority of
them
are located in plain sight (though largely ignored by the
general
public). Searching out these locations and documenting them
allows
others to share pictures of the various areas where they are
placed. There's a certain excitement to be the first to find
and
document a control point, as well as seeing what others have
found
through photos on the website's benchmark gallery. Some of
these
points haven't been visited and documented in a very long
time,so
you may also be rediscovering long neglected objects of
American
history as well!
A GPSr makes getting to the right area easier, but when
you're
there, you will (generally) be better off if you use the details
of
the benchmark's location description to locate it. Because most
of
these benchmarks were installed prior to the existence of GPS,
the
benchmark database is geared toward finding benchmarks from
the
descriptions, not the coordinates. Occasionally, however, a
good
GPSr will prove to be an invaluable tool in finding a
benchmark,especially in situations where the location's
description
is inaccurate due to development and the passage of time. A
good
GPSr will also help you get to benchmarks in locations you
are
unfamiliar with.
This series of caches has been established to introduce
cachers
to the world of benchmarking. Somewhere near each cache in
the
series is a benchmark. The benchmark can be logged on
geocaching.com.
WARNING!! THIS CACHE IS NOT ON OR AROUND THE NEARBY
MAILBOXES!!!
This cache will bring you to an area outside the town of Fulda
in northeastern Spencer County.
You are looking for a magnetic nano with a log only, so bring
your own writing instrument and a set of tweezers.
If you have found the cache you probably should already have seen
the benchmark.