Survey Mark Data
Sources of survey data
This list contains both professional data and information for recreational hunters, so please note the source of each and evaluate accordingly. Also note that some sources, USGS datasheets in particular, contain many superseded marks that are no longer reliable for survey purposes but are very useful for recreational survey mark hunting.
Professional resources
- NGS Database: Datasheets and Survey Mark Recovery
- Search/browse the main authoritative source of official survey data for the United States.
- USGS Datasheets
- USGS datasheets I have obtained and scanned. USGS does not offer digitized datasheets.
- OPUS Shared Solutions Dashboard
- Local Control Monument Databases
- Survey data from U.S. states, counties, and cities, as well as a few international resources
- NOAA Tides & Currents Bench Mark Data Sheets
- Tidal benchmark station locations and descriptions
- The NOAA CORS Network (NCN) Web Map
- U-SMART
- USACE (Army Corps of Engineers) Survey Monument Archival & Retrieval Tool
- Yellowstone National Park Benchmark Database
- Data and photos of over 500 benchmarks in Yellowstone National Park, many of which are still used for gravity and GPS observations
Recreational resources
- Bench Mark Database
- UK-based recreational benchmark hunting site
- The Corner Corner
- Search for locations where multiple states meet at a point.
- Disney Benchmarks Pages by Patty Winter
- Disney World Surveying Benchmarks
- Waymarking search for “survey markers”
- A resource for recreational survey mark hunters
Selected historical data
These sources represent the types of historical documents I often consult when searching for marks, and are specific to the areas I search. You will likely find similar resources for other areas by searching Google Books, the NOAA Library, the NGS Publications Library, and the USGS Publications Warehouse.
- Bulletin 46: Work of the New Jersey Geodetic Control Survey, c. 1938
- Precise Leveling in New York City
- By Frederick W. Koop. Executed 1909 to 1914.
- Results of Spirit Leveling in Arizona. 1899 to 1915, inclusive.
- Spirit Leveling in Maine, 1899-1915
- By R. B. Marshall. 1916.
- Triangulation and Primary Traverse, 1913-1915
- This USGS Bulletin (#644) provides data and descriptions for triangulation and traverse stations determined between 1913 and 1915. The full document is a large file (205MB); USGS has this file broken down by state/region at USGS Publication Warehouse.
- Triangulation in Arizona
- “1927 datum. Part 1: First- and second-order triangulation in south central part of state, by Clement L. Garner. 1941.”
- Triangulation in Maine
- By Walter F. Reynolds. 1918.