TT 8 J
| Coordinates: | N 41.502333° W 75.360416° |
| Location: | Pennsylvania
Wayne County Honesdale Quad |
| Elevation: | 1241.237 ft. |
| Type: | Transit Traverse Station Disk |
| Setting: | Rock Outcrop |
| Monumented: | 1926 |
| Monumented By: | USGS |
| Status: | Recovered |
| Condition: | Good as of June 28, 2014 |
- Official USGS Description: Clemo, 2 mi W. of; 100 ft S. of residence of Joe Fuiega; in schoolyard; 30 ft W. of SW. corner of schoolhouse; 50 ft S. of rd.; in rock outcrop; standard tablet stamped “TT STA NO 8 J 1926”
Plane Coordinates (feet) Latitude Longitude X = 2,654,397 Y = 495,652 41 30 08.23 -75 21 38.59
Today’s quest was to find at least one more TT disk in the “J” series, with the purpose of testing our hypothesis that they are all made of golden Aich’s metal. Our first target was TT 9 J, supposedly located near the Route 191 bridge over Middle Creek. We didn’t find that mark.
We then drove west along Middle Creek Road (which becomes Tannery Road at some point) toward Clemo, serendipitously finding some benchmarks along the way, and ending up at the old schoolhouse. Awesome! It’s still here, still looks like an old schoolhouse, and even has a little wooden “SCHOOL” sign in front (obviously not period-authentic, but still a really cute touch honoring the building’s past).
We were disappointed to find that no one was home. We would have loved to learn more about the old building and tell the residents what we know about the bench mark disk. I’m certain they know about it; we found the bright gold disk easily on a small outcrop in the yard just a few yards west of the old schoolhouse. It is in fair condition, with many surface gouges probably resulting from its exposed location, but the disk is very solid in its setting and the designation can still be read with some effort.
Update: We discovered the name of this school—Box School—on July 26 while at the Wayne County Historical Society in Honesdale, in the book Rural Schools of Wayne County by Mimi Steffen.
Some Wayne County families have posted old photographs of the schoolhouse, prior to its 1998 restoration, at Swingle & Shaffer Families Pictures: Photos from Wayne County (link no longer active, July 2024). A group photo of the schoolchildren circa 1895 is available at PAGenWeb: Wayne County PA Schools - Box School.
