Saturday, October 29, 2011

my favorite because it marks ours

Friday Favorites...

I have a strange fascination for property line markers.  Yeah, bizarre, I know.  But I love driving down the county roads and noticing the variety in them.  Different shapes of concrete and steel.  How long have they been standing there?  How did they get them in just the right place?  Most of them stand all by their lonesome.
This one is massive- 2' wide and 2' deep and almost 3' tall.


scrub bushes usually grow along property lines- 'cause it ain't mine and it ain't yourn

 A whole lot of them are tangled in old fencing and fence posts.  Most aren't on corners- the road is enough of a marker- but some are.




  Some of the markers are getting swallowed up by suburbia.  Used to be farmland.



 Just a little peice of history standing as witness next to a field of corn, wheat, or soybeans.  And I just plain like 'em.

Which brings you to a tutorial on County Roads.  No, I didn't leave an "R" out of that word.  County Roads are, by definition, a country road. Ever flown over the midwest?  Wonder how they got their fields so straight and in perfect grids?  Here's how. Indiana roads, wherever possible, are set up on a grid.  Easy to do on flat land. Alot of the midwest uses the same system.  At first, the names of these roads may appear to be rather lacking in imagination, but once you understand the methodology behind it, I think you will agree that it is all very practical- at least to the natives.  And we tend to love our practicality.  First we start with the county courthouse.  Here's ours.  This becomes the center of our county road system.



Next, the roads are set up in relationship to the courthouse. And named accordingly. If you live on 250 County Road (CR) North (N) then you live on the road that is 2 1/2 miles north of the courthouse.  Simple, huh?  But that doesn't tell you exactly where on 250N- which is miles and miles wide. So then you are designated a number based on how far east or west you live from the courthouse.  Your address might read 638E CR 250N.  You live on 250N and a scootch over 6 miles east. So you'd travel north on 600E then turn west onto 250N and your house is coming up.  Ain't that hysterical??  No one around here says left or right- just north, south, east, or west.  So usually we just leave out the directions- 'cause, let's face it, that's a whole lotta Norths, Souths, Easts and Wests. Here's my address and you're on your own.  Oh, and unless that seems just way to simple... Better make sure you know what county they live in 'cause once you pass that line, all the roads change names according to the position of their courthouse!  I was driving on 700 S and all of a sudden I'm on 200N. Don't worry, there's a sign for leaving and entering counties.  And now ya know where their courthouse is, just in case ya might need some kind of legal document.  The conditions of the roads vary from county to county- I usually notice this more than the signs.

grid system of roads in relationship to the courthouse

intersection of county roads

Better be alert to these signs or you might end up in Kansas


Catch ya on the flip side!

3 comments:

Pamela (Peni) Teel said...

Proverbs 22:28 Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.
XOXO

Sarah said...

Maybe you could end up in ALABAMA!!

Miss you and love you!

Donna said...

you did this post 'cause I always get confused about the whole address thing up there, didn't ya? I love the concept but I STINK at "directional" directions! I need lefts and rights and landmarks (there will be a Mcdonalds on the right and a bank on the left and you'll turn left just beyond the NAPA Store...). But I do think the whole grid thing is cool.