For sale is a 1997 BRASS CADASTRAL SURVEY MARKER, CHOCTAW, Mississippi. The Choctaw Meridian was established in 1821 and covers the middle portion of the state. The Initial Point was forgotten and unmarked for over 150 years until it was re-dedicated in 1998. This marker was probably sold as a commemorative paperweight in the late 1990s to acknowledge the rededication of this historical survey marker. The brass marker measures 3 1/4 inches diameter. The disk is inscribed: “Cadastral Survey – Choctaw Initial Point – Est. May 12, 1821 – Restored Nov 18, 1997 – GLO – BLM – MAPS – MSU”. An unusual collectible.
Most of Mississippi was surveyed from one survey point, known as the Choctaw Meridian Initial Point, one of 37 federal survey points of origin covering the USA (outside of the 13 original colonies), to anchor newly acquired federal land to the legal and cartographic grid. The Choctaw Meridian was established in 1821 and covers the middle portion of the state. There are two other Initial Points within the state because treaties settling land claims in this region, from conflicts with Indians and Spanish, came at different times. The Choctaw Initial Point was forgotten and unmarked for over 150 years until it was re-dedicated in 1998, when it was re-established for historical purposes by a group of organizations including the Bureau of Land Management, Mississippi State University, and the Mississippi Association of Professional Surveyors. A brass medallion sits in a granite disc embedded in a substantial amount of concrete at and below ground.
Initial point survey markers were established between the years of 1803 and 1881. They are used in geodetic and land surveying. Each one marks the singular Point of Beginning from which all lands surveyed under its coordinate system are referenced. Survey markers, are also called survey marks, survey monuments, or geodetic marks, are objects placed to mark key survey points on the Earth’s surface.
