Stories of how you came about your property

[buckeyefarmer]

I just LOVE standing out on the front porch - in a driving snow storm - trying to make a phone call.
e.

But you didn’t have to climb the pole like Oliver.

 

[oosik]

My 80 acres was part of an original homestead given by the federal government for oil exploration( 360 acres ). You would find more oil in your ear wax than has ever been found in any part of this county.

My father checked back thru the records to the original land grant. Since the Fed Gov wanted folks to look for oil - oil rights went with the land grant. Mineral rights are held by the federal government. You will find just as much valuable minerals around here as oil. This entire area is call the Channeled Scablands.

A skim of dirt on top of basaltic lava bedrock.

 

[two_bit_score]

In our case we were dealing with a realtor (who didn't know about the minerals), who represented out of state heirs (of the deceased Mr Bullion who himself had been a PA resident). After Mr Bullions died, his two daughters and another person had inherited the property and just let it set for 20 years until they finally all agreed to sell. I used a friend who was an attorney to search the deed etc for closing and in doing so he told me the minerals (other than 39 acres of coal) were still with the property. A previous owner had sold 39 acres of coal rights while retaining 10 acres of them under where the old house was at the time. I had already learned from old timers in the area that there was no coal to amount to anything.

The challenge my attorney had was to try to determine if there were any other heirs. He said Mr Bullions and his wife had owned the property as a retreat. They had two daughters and a son. Mrs Bullions died and later Mr Bullions remarried so we had a new Mrs Bullions, who herself had 2 children from her previous marriage. Subsequently all 5 children got married and had children of their own, along with a few grandchildren. The second Mrs Bullions died and later Mr Bullions, and if memory serves he did not have a will. It took a lot of searching and communicating by letters, I think around 6 months until we could finally close.

That was money well spent and you were smart to do the records searches you did so everything is clear in your name. Good luck with your mineral estate. I hope you get a lucrative OG&M lease with a big lease bonus!

 

[mapper]

tech man - - there is a mapping company located in Seattle that makes EXTREMELY detailed county maps of WA, OR & ID - - I think. For many years my driveway showed on their maps. There was no designation of either private driveway or county road. You would be surprised how many folks would drive into our yard and say - wow, we never saw a county road with two big 'ol gates on it before. I never could figure if they were truly that stupid OR it was the first excuse that came to their mind.

I mean - when was the last time you drove on a county road where it starts with a huge gate and large "No Trespassing" right in the middle. Then you go a mile and there is a second huge gate with another "No Trespassing" sign right in the middle. Some folks must exist with an ongoing/unsatisfied death wish.

Finally - this Seattle mapping company agreed and they deleted my driveway on all Spokane County maps.

I have found a couple of doozies on Google maps as well, the one that gave me a real grin is the "road" near Laconner that leads from my sisters driveway south to join another farm yard about a mile away. Nothing but farm fields separated by deep drainage ditches. I spent my working life doing mapping from aerial photography and satellite imagery, I can't see anything that resembles a road there!

 

[Sigarms]

back around 2004 after getting married and living in my wife's house in an older housing development, we went looking online for a house "off" the road, with at least 5 acres and preferably with a basement.

Went to look at our place on a Sunday drive just looking around, no appointment, just to see where it was (3 stories with a furnished basement hit our key points along with 8 acres). No for sale sign at the end of the driveway and couldn't see the house from the road, and my wife didn't want to drive down the driveway. I laughed and said "well, if they have the house listed for sale, I don't think they'll mind if we drive down to look at it if we're serious about buying". Went down the driveway, the house was unoccupied (had been that way for the last 6 years we found out afterwards).

House was nice, but after setting a meeting with the realtor and then walking around the property with the owner, we fell in love more with the land than we did with the house. We were given the option of buying the additional 32 acres which we really debated, and ended up buying all the land offered to us.

Glad we did it back then as we probably wouldn't be able to afford it today.

Had to go to the doctors back then as I though I was having signs of a heart attack.

Doctor asked me any major life changes, and I asked what he meant.

Did you recently get married? Yes
Did you recently change jobs? Yes
Did you recently buy a house? Yes, and not only that, we're carrying two mortgages trying to sell our old home after moving into a new home (got to give my wife credit, she bought her house after moving down here on knowing that she should be able to sell it quick, and it did sell in less than 4 months from what I remember).

Doctor laughed and told me I wasn't having a potential heart attack, it was stress.

 

[Milo]

That was money well spent and you were smart to do the records searches you did so everything is clear in your name. Good luck with your mineral estate. I hope you get a lucrative OG&M lease with a big lease bonus!

Thank you, and at $500 I think he way under charged me.
I wouldn't want a well on the property but if a neighbor put one on I'd probably sell the gas.

 

[California]

I have found a couple of doozies on Google maps as well, the one that gave me a real grin is the "road" near Laconner that leads from my sisters driveway south to join another farm yard about a mile away. Nothing but farm fields separated by deep drainage ditches. I spent my working life doing mapping from aerial photography and satellite imagery, I can't see anything that resembles a road there!

Not nearly as dramatic a Google goof - but yesterday I looked on Google Maps for the grandparents ranch that they sold in 1956.

Google landed their address a half mile away from the actual location. I recognized what I saw, backtracked, and found the ranch right where I remember it. Its mailbox on the county road verified the address I had input. Google isn't always right!

re photogrammetry my first job out of HS was part time ground control for photogrammetry, and general survey work. One memorable assignment was measuring for clearance over various promontories, for the tramway route up the mountain at Squaw Valley.

Surveying has come a long way since then. The K&E transit, a 100 (?) year old design, was the primary tool. Satellite? Like Sputnik?

 

[riptides]

..............

Had to go to the doctors back then as I though I was having signs of a heart attack.

Doctor asked me any major life changes, and I asked what he meant.

Did you recently get married? Yes
Did you recently change jobs? Yes
Did you recently buy a house? Yes, and not only that, we're carrying two mortgages trying to sell our old home after moving into a new home (got to give my wife credit, she bought her house after moving down here on knowing that she should be able to sell it quick, and it did sell in less than 4 months from what I remember).

Doctor laughed and told me I wasn't having a potential heart attack, it was stress.

LOL. No kidding, I had the EXACT same conditions and symptoms.

Doctor - "And you wonder why you are having chest pains?"

LOL.

 

[oosik]

If I attempt to locate my driveway by address - the "red dot" is alway about 250 feet north of the actual beginning. I don't know what system the Post Office used back in 1982 but it certainly does not match up with todays systems.

 

[thepumpguysc]

Lol.. I know what you mean..
I live at the end of a dead end.. if u keep going about 6’ u drop into a canal..
On the other side of the canal is the same thing.. no warning signs..
I get a lot of folks that end up on the other side of the canal looking for my house..
OR 2 doors down.. right road, wrong address..
Some of the stories are hilarious..