On Mar 19, 4:06*am, mm wrote:
How big are surveyor pegs?

snip

Old surveyors pegs in our (central Illinois) area were 2' long 1"
galvanized pipe. A problem that is common in our locale is that the
early surveyors were evidently sloppy with their magnetic North
settings. When I wanted a precise location for a fence around the
first house I bought, the surveyors discovered that the east-west line
was nearly 2' off to the east. My lawyer advised that modern
technology trumps old, and that legal descriptions must be held
intact. My neighbor to the west was elated that his structures were
well placed and the neighbor to the east was rather upset at losing a
nice fruit tree that had been planted close to the old line and was
now in my yard. Fortunately we all got along.
Later, moving to a nearby town, the same errors arose, this time both
east-west and north-south locations off by about 1 1/2' from 1890 or
so surveys. One result was when a neighbor sold her house, it was
necessary for her to have the swimming pool privacy fence moved to the
newer lot line. Encroachment rules did not permit leaving it there
since formal notification and permission had been granted and
relawyering the deal would cost more than moving the fence.
Like they say in cow country, 'good fences make good neighbors', and
that applies to valid lot lines.

Joe