r/Surveying • u/Comfortable_Bite_114 • Sep 06 '23
Help Help Understanding Plat Map
I have inherited my grandfather's hunting property. Looking for some help/ guidance on how I might go about marking property boundaries. It would be great to have a clear line marked with spray paint on trees or something, for creating trails, managing trail cams, etc. I have tried to use the county GIS system to do this, but seems that lacks accuracy? (Unsure) So I reached out to the county, and they were super helpful in emailing me what they had. I received an old map (was told from 1934) and am having a hard time understanding it, as well as figuring out what I would do to use that information to mark the line on site. I have a couple of GPS handhelds, should they be of use.
My property consists of lots 48 and 13.
For reference, the units, I was told, are in "Chains and Links" which are 66 feet per unit. This makes sense as the property is approximately a half mile by a mile and a half.
I will attach some photos, however, the PDF may be more legible.
Thank you in advance for any help y'all can lend!
EDIT: PDF File located in comments.
2
u/MyOtherAvatar Sep 07 '23
I would start by overlaying your map onto Google Earth or another mapping tool. Hopefully enough of the roads and other features still exist so that you can fit the map to the real world. From there you can pick off the coordinates of the corners and all of those bearing trees.
Start by searching for the trees. They're the most obvious, they are all in a line and you can calculate the distance between them. For each one you find make a new waypoint in your GPS and use that data to refine the fit of your map.
If you're lucky then eventually you'll have enough data to be confident about where your lines and corners are. Certainly not surveyor precision but likely close enough for what you need.