K 20
| Coordinates: | N 44.3035° W 68.22225° |
| Location: | Maine
Hancock County Seal Harbor Quad |
| Elevation: | 115.398 ft. |
| Type: | Bench Mark Disk |
| Setting: | Boulder |
| Monumented: | 1934 |
| Monumented By: | USGS |
| Status: | Recovered |
| Condition: | Good as of September 8, 2013 |
- Official USGS Description: Seal Harbor Post Office, 1.6 mi NE. of; 190 ft W. of junction; at T-rd. S. (Cooksie Drive); 40 ft N. of centerline of rd.; about 15 ft higher than rd.; in outcrop of ledge; standard tablet stamped “K 20 1934”
MaineDOT 2013 revision: Recovered January 2013 by Joe Coffey, PLS, Patriot Land Surveys. Located 2.6 km (1.6 mi) Northeast of Seal Harbor Post Office, 525 feet south of the intersection of Cooksey Drive. The station mark is a standard tablet, stamped --- K 20 1934 ---, set in a outcrop of ledge, 35 feet east of guardrail and 7 feet below the edge of pavement on Route 3 just north of Seal Harbor. 1934 *** Description: 4.6 m (15 ft) higher than the road. 12.2 m (40 ft) North of the centerline of the road.
Our first goal for this rainy Sunday was to seek out a USGS BM, K 20, near the intersection of Route 3 and Cooksey Drive. The USGS description was incomplete, and I think we’d driven by once before to scout the location, only to find that the situation was near hopeless with the paltry information provided on the old datasheet. However, this year I noticed a new recovery for this mark entered into the MDOT database. It contained a revised description and coordinates provided by Patriot Land Surveys in Bar Harbor.
We entered the wooded triangle between the two roads. Fortunately, it’s mostly open woods that were easy to navigate, even when everything was wet. It took a few minutes of tromping southwest from our starting point, but soon enough we spotted pink flagging tape and a standard USGS metal witness sign on a tree.
The mark was found in excellent condition and very solid in its setting on the outcrop. We also found a MAG nail set into a rock a few yards away, with some pink flagging tape attached, and some pink flagging tape tied to the nearest guardrail post along Route 3.
