Poof! She's Gone, Part 2

In the year 1960, a US Geological Survey team decided to use the 401 Auction House as a good spot to install what is called a Vertical Control Marker or Benchmark. It is said that these markers are normally within .001 of an inch accurate. As you can see in the close up view below, the lot on which the auction house sat is 408 feet above sea level.

The geological data base of both vertical and horizontal markers goes back to 1925 with 736,425 current entries. Some think there might be as many as a million more out there that have been lost track of.  Currently, there is a concerted effort on the part of several hundred volunteers to track down and photograph as many of these markers as possible. So far I have been unable to locate this one in the data base so I might be making a contribution of my own.  For more information on Benchmarks and the US Geological Survey start here:


http://www.peakbagging.com/Benchmark.htm

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=32744

http://www.geocaching.com/mark/




The Benchmark as seen from the front of the lot. It's the small disk in the foreground and just to the right of center.




A monument to someone's work in 1960.