Novi Baseline Obelisk

Novi Baseline Obelisk. . , Side 1 , Surveyors exhibited courage, determination, integrity, and ingenuity in the heroic feat of measuring Michigan from 1815-1853. Their work resulted in global implementation of innovative methods of land measurement and ownership. The history of the surveying of the base line reveals the collision of four contrasting concepts of "property": Native American, European Aristocratic, Colonial American, and Jeffersonian. From this emerged a new, uniquely American set of principles which profoundly shaped our landscape, laws, and way of life. , , Native American Proverb , Treat the earth well: We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. , , This obelisk is the third of a series to be aligned near Michigan's Base Line. , 2011 , Coasting the Base Line , Artist David Barr , Novi Historical Commission , , Side 2 , Town One North , Range Eight East , , European Aristocratic , Metes and Bounds , Ownership by heads of state "to be our Royal will and pleasure" , King George III , 1763 , , Side 3 , N 42° 26' 8" , W 83° 32' 57" , , Grand River and the railroad: connecting Novi with the nation , , Colonial American , Metes and Bounds , Ownership by imperial decree , "...the swampy marsh land of southeastern Michigan was slowly tamed, turning into some of the most fertile, productive agricultural centers in the territory." , Will Durant , , Agriculture not only gives riches to the nation, but the only riches she can call her own. , Samuel Johnson , , First Novi Town Hall 1876 , , Side 4 , Erastus Ingersoll , First Novi settler , 1825 , , Village of Novi , 1958 , City of Novi , 1969 , , Fuerst Barn , Agriculture: The original foundation of the Novi community. , , Jeffersonian , Immaculate Grid , "...to provide by every possible means that as few as possible shall be without a little portion of land. The small landowners are the most precious part of the state." , Thomas Jefferson , Surveyor, 1790 , , "Surveyors create boundaries, people create community" , David Londal