HIGGINS

Rich and I just hadn’t had enough benchmark hunts for one day, even after two very early-morning finds in the park. We were on our way to Indian Point to lounge around and watch the seals (who were also lounging around) when we realized that we’d be passing right by HIGGINS.

The nearby witness sign was very helpful in locating the small bolt. Reference mark 1 was easy to find as it’s set into a large boulder, although it was covered in moss when we arrived. Reference mark 2 was more difficult to find; recovering it required taking measurements and bearings from the station as well as moving some heavy brush and fallen tree trunks. This was all quite an adventure on a hot, sunny, and extremely humid morning.

HIGGINS was a particularly interesting mark because of its Civil War-era date of monumentation. It’s not often in this country that you can touch something you know to be exactly the same as it was 140 years ago! Many of the very oldest stations were simply drill holes, which were later filled in with standard triangulation station disks in the 1930s. This station, marked by a bolt, managed to survive in its original form and was therefore an exciting find for us. The only additions to the site were the two reference marks (added in 1934) and a witness sign, date unknown though it looks to be relatively recent. This station may require another check soon, as there were indications of recent surveying in the area. I hope the station remains intact, even if development occurs.