This border monument was placed in 1855 in accordance with the border located by the Emory-Salazar Commission, and later formally adopted by the International Boundary Commission, a bi-national agency now known as the International Boundary and Water Commission. In 1893 it was designated an official US Coast and Geodetic Survey benchmark.
From the Datasheet: (
visit link)
"CE0665 DESIGNATION - BOUNDARY MON 1 MX US
CE0665 PID - CE0665
CE0665 STATE/COUNTY- TX/EL PASO
CE0665 USGS QUAD - SMELTERTOWN (1975)
CE0665
CE0665 *CURRENT SURVEY CONTROL
CE0665 _________________________________________________________________
CE0665 NAD 83(1993) 31 47 02.01228(N) 106 31 47.06128(W) ADJUSTED
CE0665* NAVD 88 - 1136. (meters) 3727. (feet) SCALED
CE0665 __________________________________________________________________
CE0665
CE0665_MARKER: 70 = MONUMENT
CE0665
CE0665 HISTORY - Date Condition Recov. By
CE0665 HISTORY - 1893 FIRST OBSERVED IBC
CE0665 HISTORY - 1954 GOOD AMS
CE0665
CE0665 STATION DESCRIPTION
CE0665
CE0665 DESCRIBED BY INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY COMMISSION 1893
CE0665 ON THE W BANK OF THE RIO GRANDE AND 172.6 METERS (566 FEET)
CE0665 FROM THE CENTER OF THE CHANNEL. IT IS A CUT STONE MONUMENT
CE0665 12 FEET HIGH, 5 FEET SQUARE AT THE BASE, AND 2-1/2 FEET
CE0665 SQUARE AT THE TOP, WITH A JACKET OF CONCRETE 4 FEET HIGH
CE0665 AROUND THE BASE.
CE0665
CE0665 STATION RECOVERY (1954)
CE0665
CE0665 RECOVERY NOTE BY US ARMY MAP SERVICE (NOW DMA) 1954
CE0665 THE MARK (A CUT STONE MONUMENT 12 FT. HIGH) WAS RECOVERED
CE0665 AS DESCRIBED IN GOOD CONDITION WITH THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONS
CE0665 AND CHANGES TO THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION--
CE0665
CE0665 THERE IS NO JACKET OF CONCRETE 4 FT. HIGH AROUND THE BASE
CE0665 OF THE MONUMENT. IT IS OBELISK IN SHAPE, 4 FT. SQUARE AROUND
CE0665 THE BASE AND TAPERS OFF AT THE TOP. THIS MONUMENT IS ENCLOSED
CE0665 IN A 12-FT. SQUARE FENCE AND IS IN THE EXACT CENTER OF THIS
CE0665 FENCE. CENTER OF MONUMENT IS 35 FT. S OF THE CENTERLINE OF
CE0665 A LEVEE ROAD."
The monument was refaced and given a new base in 1966. In 1989 a new plaque was added by the International Boundary and Water Commission when the nearby flood control project was renovated, reaffirming the boundary.
A plaque on the "US side" of the monument reads as follows:
"INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION
between United States and Mexico
1989"
IMPORTANT: This border monument is inside a little park near a flood control canal. The park looks like it is bi-national, but IT IS NOT. At the parking area on the US side, there is a line of boulders painted white and a sign along the line of the borders marking what USBP enforces as the US/MX border. That line is the official border as enforced by BOTH countries.
USBP said a pic of ourselves at this marker risked arrest by Mexican border police because the marker in INSIDE MEXICO.
Mexico Border Patrol are almost always at this little park. USBP pointed out 2 plain-clothes MX BP in the park & and 1 uniformed on a nearby hill, camouflaged & watching us w/ binoculars. They look for unsuspecting American incursions here.
Use a zoom lens to get this waymark, and mind where the rocks are. If in doubt as to where the enforced border is, ASK USBP NOT MXBP!!! USBP agents are everywhere here.
Visit, but stay safe in a confusing area!! :)