In the past several years there have been several efforts in the area of State Plane Coordinate System uses which have generated a large amount of interest in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Many individuals are interested in the possible benefits which could be derived from the monumentation of the Virginia State Plane Coordinate System (VSPCS). However, the system has lain virtually dormant since its adoption in 1946. In the course of investigating the uses of a state plane coordinate system, a basis for its monumentation is chosen. There are at present four possibilities: The Universal Transverse Mercator Projection, the NGS 2° Transverse Mercator Projection, the Lambert Conformal Projection and Geodetic Coordinates. Their merits and possible inconsistencies are presented. When a coordinate system is chosen, then an analysis of the cost of monumenting the system is presented. During this discussion three possible methods of monumentation are evaluated: Conventional traverse, photogrammetric triangulation and inertial surveying. Several uses of the monument network are discussed as are some of the problems facing those who administer the system. In the discussion of the latter, the need for a Virginia Geodetic Survey is presented. / Master of Science

M.S.

American town form consists of primary form - the layout of streets, lots and other features determined for a town at its inception - and secondary form - the fabric of building and usage that a town acquires over time. This thesis explores the primary and secondary form of ante-bellum Western Virginia Towns, and offers several interpretations of the cultural meaning recorded in town form. / Master of Architecture

The history or the human race is replete with accounts of conflicts that originated in disputes over the ownership of land. Some of these disputes have been between nations, some have been between political subdivisions within nations, and others have been between individual landowners. It is to the latter of these that this writing is directed. In some nations most of the land is owned by a few wealthy people, and it is rented to those in the lower economic group for an annual stipend in agricultural products, money, or some other form of compensation. America is a nation of home owners and landowners which makes the question of adequate property descriptions one of common interest. When the country was first settled this problem was not serious as there was more then enough land for everyone, but as the population density and land values increased, so did the number of disputes over property boundaries. These arguments result in expensive litigation, ill-feeling between neighbors, and, sometimes, murder. People derive a peculiar satisfaction and joy in knowing that "that certain parcel of land" is really their own, and they fight any encroachment, real or imaginary, with dogged determination. In most boundary disputes each person is convinced that he is right, and that the other fellow is the thief. The unfortunate part of it is that the dividing line ie so poorly described that a surveyor has a very difficult time in locating it. Sometimes the evidence is so meager that arbitration is the only alternative. Those intimately acquainted with existing conditions are fully aware of the inadequacies of boundary surveys. Even though land represents a very large percent of the national wealth, it is probably the poorest described and the least negotiable of all forms of wealth. The difficulties involved in the transfer of real estate are out of all proportion to the difficulties involved tn the transfer of other types of property. This situation can be, and should be, corrected. It seems that the logical and intelligent approach would be to determine first wherein the difficulties lie, and then take appropriate and adequate steps to eliminate them. This means, of course, that action will have to replace inertia in order to resolve a tremendous conglomeration of pyramided faults into an intelligible and logical form. / Master of Science