Blog · September 30, 2026
What a Call for a Stone Wall Means
A call for a stone wall uses the wall as a monument. The deed may run to the wall, along the wall, or to the center of it. Which of those it says decides whether the wall is the edge or the line runs down the middle. A wall the deed never mentions is only a wall.
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To, along, or center of
Read the preposition. To a stone wall ends the course at the wall, and the next course often runs along it. Along the stone wall makes the wall the boundary line for that course. To the center of the wall, or by the middle of the wall, puts the line inside the wall. Those are different grants. A deed that stops at the face of the wall can leave the wall itself on the neighbor’s side or in dispute, depending on the rest of the caption and on local practice about boundary structures. Do not upgrade at the wall into center of the wall because sharing feels fair. Fairness is not the call. If the wall has a recognizable center and the deed says center, a surveyor can relate the line to that center. You should not start removing stones to find a centerline.
The wall has to be the wall that was called
Stone walls get rebuilt, robbed for fill, and extended. The monument is the wall the deed called for, in the position it occupied, or its remains if they can be identified. A new wall on a slightly different line is a new structure. It may be good evidence of occupation and poor evidence of the old call. Field notes that say to a wall at a certain distance help test whether this wall is that wall. A wall the deed never calls is not promoted into a monument by age alone. Fences and walls feel authoritative because they are heavy. The priority of calls promotes the wall the description named, not every wall in the county.
What the map will show instead
Aerial photos and parcel viewers show vegetation and sometimes a linear pile if the resolution is kind. They do not label it as the deed’s monument, and they do not say face versus center. County GIS is an assessment map, not a survey. Platbookmapper links to it and does not trace walls. A laser measure from the house to the nearest stone is not a survey of the call. If a boundary depends on the wall, a surveyor should tie the deed language to the physical wall and to the other corners. Until then, leave the wall where it is. Moving stones moves the evidence and can move a neighbor’s monument.
What to do next
- Underline to, along, or center of, and keep those words distinct.
- Ask whether this wall is the one the deed named, not merely an old wall.
- Note rebuilds and gaps instead of assuming continuity.
- Do not dismantle a wall to mark a centerline.
The mix-up to avoid
Assuming every stone wall is the property line. The deed has to call for it, and the call has to say whether the line is the face, the foot, or the center.
Questions people ask
What if the wall is gone except for a few stones?
Remains can still be the monument if they can be identified as that wall. A surveyor makes that identification from the record and the ground. A few rocks in a leaf pile are not automatically the corner. Leave them in place.
Does a wall on the GIS line prove the call?
No. The GIS line is drawn for taxes and may have been snapped to a photo of the wall, or it may miss the wall entirely. Either result is cartography. The deed call is the record.
Find the county map
The county GIS map is the practical place to start. Find it from the Platbookmapper directory, then treat the recorded plat and deed as the documents behind the picture.
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey.