The Point of Beginning
February 14, 2017
Morning All, Happy Valentine’s day! To continue our discussion on land descriptions today we will talk about the “Point of Beginning”, commonly referred to as POB. Without a permanent, fixed, identifiable POB, the land described might be located in Metairie or Mandeville. Definite and precise POBs are not only important, they are crucial, when an area becomes settled and is divided into many parcels.
There are two types of POBs. One is local in nature and consists of some object on or near the land then being described, such as a boulder on which a mark or point has been carved. This type of survey marker is considered “unscientific” because they can be moved or destroyed. “Scientific” land descriptions are those which have relatively permanent, identifiable POBs such as a point on the surface of the earth at which specific lines of latitude and longitude intersect, or a coordinate.
The Federal Government has established survey monuments in many areas of the country at specific coordinates of latitude and longitude. Such monuments serve as remote points of beginning for surveys. In many instances sub-monuments have been established on line surveyed and projected from such original monuments and theses sub-monuments are used as remote points of beginning. Surveys made by the Federal Government in establishing the Rectangular System of Townships and Sections are projected from such monuments.