Had a client in Dayton last month who insisted their property line was marked by a single, ancient oak tree.

After we set the posts and started stringing line, the neighbor came out with a 1920s survey map showing the actual line was 15 feet into what we'd just fenced, and the old tree was just where their grandpa liked to park his truck.

4 comments

4 Comments

corah751mo ago

Oh the "ancient oak tree" thing, that's a CLASSIC. We had a lady swear her line was a weirdly bent pine. Turned out her uncle bent it as a sapling with a tied rope, it was just a weird yard decoration.

betty_perry241mo ago

Family stories get warped with each telling. The "ancient" part probably got added when the rope rotted away and no one remembered why it was bent.

eva_moore1mo ago

My cousin's garage had a weird crack in the foundation everyone called the "earthquake fault." Turns out grandpa just dropped a heavy engine block there in the 70s. It's wild how a simple accident turns into a whole family legend after a couple decades. The story gets more dramatic every reunion. Now my aunt tells people we live on a seismic zone.

ericw9325d ago

Hah that reminds me of the weird dip in my parents' driveway! My dad swore for years it was from a meteorite when he was a kid. Nope, just where my grandma always parked her old boat of a car that leaked oil forever. It's funny what sticks as the official story, right? What's the wildest "fact" your family just accepts?