In case you've ever wondered ... Highway department medallions mark locations of right-of-way for highways

This official-looking circular cement marker is almost hidden along the sidewalk of William Street near East Hiram in downtown Atlanta, Texas. It is a benchmark survey monument indicating Farm to Market 251 passes here.
This official-looking circular cement marker is almost hidden along the sidewalk of William Street near East Hiram in downtown Atlanta, Texas. It is a benchmark survey monument indicating Farm to Market 251 passes here.

A close observer walking along North William Street in Atlanta, Texas, may think they have found the center of town or something else official when looking down at their feet close to the edge of the sidewalk.

There, in an alcove in the middle of this first block, is a stone column with brass medallion marker.

The circular marker is official even if it is almost hidden along the sidewalk. It has the easily readable "Texas Highway Department" around its edge and smaller, more mysterious letters and numbers on the inside.

What is being indicated here?

Marcus Sandifer, public information officer for the Atlanta District of Texas Department of Transportation, explains, no, this is not to do with the city but is a state right-of-way road marker indicating Farm to Market 251 passes here.

FM 251 goes from McLeod to Atlanta and then northward on up to Cass and then to the Arkansas state line. The correct title of the circular cement post is "Benchmark Survey Monument."

Survey monuments mark key points on the earth's surface and so are quite important. The Texas right-of-way monument is usually a 4-inch domed-top disk with an open area for a punch mark. It is usually set in a poured concrete post. This monument seems to have an elevation value as well.

Such a benchmark itself is a point whose position is known to a high degree of accuracy. Benchmarks may be made and placed in various forms such as chiseled into stone or a metal rod which is driven into the ground. Benchmarks have been used for two centuries and are needed by surveyors, builders and engineers or by anyone who needs to know precisely where something is.

The monument can be used by anyone, public or private, and may even be a point of discovery for geocaching fans who like to find and log points in their game of mystery and travel.

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