I received a call from Jim, concerning some property markers, that he couldn’t locate. Jim related to me that there should be 11 different property markers, on his property, in Cumberland Center, Maine. Jim knew where five of the property markers were. He only really needed to locate three of them, to an adjoining property and he had a good idea, as to where the three markers would be, by measuring from the known property pins. He asked if I would be able to help him locate just three of the missing pins.
I told Jim I would be happy to help him and that I would bring a 300’ tape measure, to measure the distances from one property pin, to the area that missing property pin should be in. I also told Jim that even though it is illegal to remove these property markers, in the State of Maine, many people have removed them. I told him that even at my home, I was only able to locate 2 of the six property markers. I was told by my neighbor, 30+ years ago the front 2 property pins had been removed, by a previous owner, because the previous owner didn’t like them, because of the lawn mowing. I have also searched on other properties and have heard similar stories of property markers being remove for lawn mowing purposes or ascetics , the property owners just don’t like looking at them. It’s always a hit or miss with property markers.
I arrived at Jim’s home and he was totally prepared, with the map of the property, with dimensions and Jim had already measured out the areas and placed a wooden stake, in the ground. The wood stake should be very close to where the property pins should be. Jim took me to the area of where the first property pin he needed to find and there was a wooden stake. Jim told me that it may be under a Rhododendron plant. I started metal detecting on the inside of the Rhododendron plant and I couldn’t locate the property pin, but did find the usual old rusty iron nails. I then went to the other side of the plant and almost immediately received a nice loud ferrous target. I wiped away the leaves and there it was, the property pin. It was barely showing but I could see the yellow cap and a bit of the metal pin. I dug out around it and Jim was delighted that we had found property pin #1. One down, two to go. The next property pin was going to be a straight line, from the pin I had just found. Jim and I measured the distance out to the next pin. I started searching with my metal detector again and there were all kinds of targets but no property pin, in the area. Lots and lots of yard trash and yes, even more nails. Jim was baffled and went to get the map. He said it should be there but it wasn’t. Jim wanted to move on to property pin #3 and this pin should line up, with the pin we couldn’t find. Once again, Jim had measured out property pin #3, from a know property pin and Jim took me up to the known pin and showed me, the location. We then went to the area of property pin #3 and Jim had a wooden stake there, signaling the area, the property pin should be in. Jim and I then walked to the area of property pin #2, that we didn’t find. My metal detector was still there and Jim then proceeded to his house, to get a long handled shovel. I grabbed my metal detector and went to try and find property pin #3. After a few minutes of some more rusty nails, I received a loud high pitched ferrous target. I took my spade and dug the target out and there it was, a metal property marker. This one was broken and was missing the yellow cap but there it was. When Jim returned with the shovel, I showed him what I had found and again, he was delighted, that property pin #3, had been found. Now we just needed to find property pin #2. This time, we would measure from pin #3 and see if the area would be the same, as from measuring from pin #1. Once thee measurement was taken, the area was off by 5 to 6 feet. How could that be? Why was the measurement 5-6 feet closer to pin #3, than the measurement, from pin #1? As Jim scanned the map, he noticed that he had measured, to a fence post, being shown on the map and not the actual property marker. Once this was corrected, the new location was actually in some small trees and bushes. I pushed some branches and bushes away and took a look inside. WOW!! I could see a large iron pipe sticking up through the vegetation. Now we just had to take measurements from both pin #1 and pin #3, to verify this iron pipe is the actual property marker. Both measurements were within an inch of where they were suppose to be. Now all three property markers had been found and Jim was just so happy. Jim was now planning on digging the pins out just a little more, especially pin #3, since it had broken off, in the ground. Jim was then going to spray paint them orange, for better visibility. As we were walking back ti to house and my vehicle, Jim asked if I would mind finding three more property markers. He told me the three I had already found were the important ones, that he needed to know the location of but he would like to just know where the others were. I told Jim absolutely, “I’m already here, lets do it”
So now we needed to find pins #4, #5 and #6. Pin #4 would be directly across from Jim’s house and on the other side of the driveway. The other two pins were at the front of the property, along the road. Starting with pin #4, I started searching near the wooden post, that Jim had already put in the area. Within a minute or so, I received a nice loud target and when I looked down, I could see just a little bit of a familiar looking yellow cap, in the grass. It was pin #4. That was easy. Jim and I then measured down to the location of where pin #5 should be and once again, Jim had already placed the wooden post, in the area. Being near the road, it is my experience that there is usually a lot of trash and my experience was proved correct. Just a lot of different targets that I had to go through. After 6-7 minutes of searching, I received the target I was looking for. I could not see this one and when I dug it, I saw pin #5. It was missing a yellow cap but did have red colored piece of ribbon, tied around it. Wow, to easy when there are no bushes or trees. Pin #6 would be directly down the street, just 80’ from pin #5. We measured out the 80 ‘ and started searching the grassy lawn area. Again, lots of trash and nails but no property marker. I continued to search in a 10” radius, from where the pin should be but it just isn’t there. As Jim and I were still searching, Jim’s neighbor, Casey, came home. Casey came over and we told him we couldn’t find the property marker. Casey told us he knew where his left front marker was and we measured the 164’, from Casey’s property to where the pin #6 should be and we were exactly where it should be. Measured from bot Jim’s hand Casey’s known markers came out the exact spot. Unfortunately , it just wasn’t there. Jim and Casey were ok with that and actually put a wooden in the mutually agreed spot, just to mark the spot. Neither of them have anything planned for the area, but they now know where pin #6 should be.
So a morning spent searching for, ultimately, six different property markers, turned out quite successful. Jim was very pleased that the three pins he wanted to find, were found and two of the other three pins found, were a bonus. Jim thanked me, posed a a photo at pin #4 and thanked me again for helping him. His smile said it all and that always puts a smile on my face. I have the best job in the world.😃❤️🙏
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