Research

New York State Engineer and Surveyor Drawings of State Boundary Monuments


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Overview of the Records

Repository:

New York State Archives
New York State Education Department
Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230

Summary:
These volumes contain waterpaint drawings of individual boundary monuments and the surrounding landscape marking New York's borders with Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut. They were produced in conjunction with the State Engineer and Surveyor's triennial examination of previously established boundary markers in 1900. The State Engineer was directed by law to restore or replace damaged or missing markers and to set new ones, if lacking, where the state boundary was intersected by highways or town or county boundaries.
Creator:
Title:
New York State Engineer and Surveyor drawings of state boundary monuments
Quantity:

3 cubic feet

3 volumes

Inclusive Dates:
[ca. 1900]
Series Number:
A4023

Arrangement

Numerical by monument number; geographical.

Scope and Content Note

These volumes contain waterpaint drawings of individual boundary monuments and the surrounding landscape marking New York's borders with Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut. They were produced in conjunction with the State Engineer and Surveyor's triennial examination of previously established boundary markers in 1900. The State Engineer was directed by law to restore or replace damaged or missing markers and to set new ones, if lacking, where the state boundary was intersected by highways or town or county boundaries.

Each illustration provides: drawing of a monument and its markings (most monuments are stone blocks with simple markings such as "N.Y. 3M" the three-mile marker, but a few are upright monuments with a more specific location marking); roads, waterways, fields, trees, fences, or other physical features of the land surrounding the monument; caption, which may provide monument's location on a road between towns or in relationship to one or two border towns, or description of the land on which the monument is located; for monuments on the Pennsylvania border, a notation indicating "Parallel Boundary" (that running east to west from the Delaware River) or "Meridan Boundary" (that running south to north at the border's west end and ending at Lake Erie); and notation if a monument is missing.

Related Material

A0121A0121Series A0121 contains records of the Pennsylvania and New York Joint Boundary Commission

A0782A0782Series A0782 contains records of the New York and New Jersey Joint Boundary Commission

Custodial History

The drawing "Watercolor View of Lower Manhattan and Harbor, ca. 1900" was removed from the series for exhibit purposes and subsequently stored separately.

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.

Access Terms

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