Blasterz have had a great time crawling all over the Rio Grande Valley looking for these old joint US International Boundary Commission/MX Comision de Internacional Limites reference post benchmarks. Few of the posts themselves remain, but local cities do take care when paving around the posts to leave the plate in the center of the posts intact.
This reference point is located on the west side of Our Lady of Visitation Catholic Church in Santa Maria Texas, along the US 281.
From the NGS Datasheet: (
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"AB0912 DESIGNATION - RP 32
AB0912 PID - AB0912
AB0912 STATE/COUNTY- TX/CAMERON
AB0912 USGS QUAD - SANTA MARIA (1970)
AB0912
AB0912 *CURRENT SURVEY CONTROL
AB0912 __________________________________________________________________
AB0912* NAD 83(1986)-26 04 28. (N) 097 50 16. (W) SCALED
AB0912
AB0912_STABILITY: C = MAY HOLD, BUT OF TYPE COMMONLY SUBJECT TO
AB0912+STABILITY: SURFACE MOTION
AB0912
AB0912 HISTORY - Date Condition Recov. By
AB0912 HISTORY - UNK MONUMENTED IBC
AB0912 HISTORY - 1942 GOOD NGS
AB0912 HISTORY - 1987 GOOD USPSQD
AB0912
AB0912 STATION DESCRIPTION
AB0912
AB0912''DESCRIBED BY NATIONAL GEODETIC SURVEY 1942
AB0912''1.0 MI W FROM BLUETOWN.
AB0912''1.0 MILE WEST ALONG U.S. HIGHWAY 281 FROM THE JUNCTION OF DUKES
AB0912''HIGHWAY AT BLUETOWN, CAMERON COUNTY, AT AN OLD BRICK CHURCH ON THE
AB0912''NORTH SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, 49 FEET NORTH OF THE CENTERLINE OF THE
AB0912''HIGHWAY, 12.5 FEET EAST OF THE CENTER OF THE SOUTH ENTRANCE DOOR, 8.5
AB0912''FEET SOUTH OF THE SOUTH WALL OF THE CHURCH, AND LEVEL WITH THE
AB0912''HIGHWAY. AN INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY COMMISSION SQUARE IRON PLATE, SET
AB0912''IN THE TOP OF A CONCRETE POST (RP 32 IS CAST IN THE TOP OF THE POST)
AB0912''PROJECTING 0.5 FOOT ABOVE GROUND.
AB0912
AB0912 STATION RECOVERY (1987)
AB0912
AB0912''RECOVERY NOTE BY US POWER SQUADRON 1987 (GES)
AB0912''RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION."