Abstract/Survey ParcelMaps

Hello Again,
Long time since I've posted on here for help.

Since I started this project almost 3 years ago, I have learned how to locate and document courthouse records; put together title opinions, chain of title; trace original documentation providing metes and bounds property descriptions, etc...

The final step I need to complete my portfolio is getting access to County Abstract Parcel maps (Tobin, Cambre,etc...) that will allow me to pinpoint exactly where the referenced properties are; so that I can cross reference these locations with drilling & production maps.

Does anyone knowof an affordable online resources that provides these maps, from which I would be able to download and print them?

Companies like P2, DrillingInfo, TexMap, OGInfo, and the like have convenient online equivalencies, but none of which provide interface capacities...

Any help is appreciated.

My best suggestion would be DrillingInfo (which isn't exactly affordable - depending on your level of subscription), but you mentioned that you already tried that option. I don't know of anything like this, but I would also like to know the answer to your question. Good luck!

I was just informed by PM that the easiest option is the cheapest option (depending on the price of gas). Apparently - and it would have been nice to know this when I was driving to every court house in central Texas - the each of the County Clerks office's in Texas have hard copies of the Abstract/Survey Parcel maps available for the public.

I have to wonder at the quality of these maps, and how the heck I might be able to get copies, pictures, or images to use to locate pinpoint my interests. But hey it's a start. Thanks David

It looks like I'm going on a road trip...
Mathew

Get copies of abstract maps from county appraiser of the specific abstracts or surveys you are looking for. Some counties have free maps on their websites.

I would say that most, but not all have good Tobin or similar survey/ownership maps. The quality would definitely be a question. If it's mounted on a wall or something, the quality will be fine, if its not laminated and out there for everyone to get their fingers on, it might not be fine.

But as you mentioned, the hardest thing will be getting a copy of it. They're likely not going to let you leave the court house with it, so that rules out scanning. On several occasions, I have tried to take multiple pictures of a map with a camera (slr on a tripod) and then piece them together on my computer. I haven't had any luck getting this to work and it is extremely tedious and frustrating. And I don't even think a very good camera has enough clarity and megapixels to take a picture of a whole map and it be readable.

Hope this helps!

P.S. I have a similar goal to you in that I basically want a copy of every county ownership map in Texas. One option that I have considered in the past is libraries. I believe that the Library at the University of Texas and Texas A&M as well as the Library of Congress have copies of most, if not all Tobin or similar Texas County maps. I don't know if any of these libraries would let you check these items out or not, but that might be a place to call. At the very least, it might save you a trip to every Court House in Texas to look at them! If you pursue this option, let me know, I would be interested in joining you on this project.

I've called Perry Castaneda at UT Austin, and they've referred me to the Agricultural department. With any luck, they'll have access to the map. If they do, then they should be able to transfer them to the P-C Library which has a very large scanner than does TexShare scans for about $10-$20... (compared to ever where else I've looked that wants to charge $90-$100 for Scans that size.

I'll keep my fingers crossed and the forum informed...
Mathew

I've looked into this and it seems to add up quite fast when there are 100+ abstracts in a county...

Thank you for the option though. It may come to that. :)

Mathew

This may be off base but have you looked at the Texas General Land Office's GIS system?

http://gisweb.glo.texas.gov/glomap/index.html

Their map shows abstracts for all counties. Maybe the question is whether the overlays you are needing to do could be done by GIS using their base map or you have to work with hard copies.

Dusty,
You aren't off by much at all. The GLO GIS system does in fact provide the Abstract Survey information. There are several other online mapping systems like OGI FlexMap, RRC GIS (basically GLO), and most membership based online application offer similar systems.

However, what I need in order to locate the exact parcel of land within an Abstract for which we own a mineral interest, the Abstracts need to be broken down into Ownership Parcels - essentially designated by the metes and bounds property descriptions - each labeled with a name and an acreage. As seen in this Karnes County Survey map below (covering Hernandez, Leal, Patton, Carrillo, Navarro,... etc. Surveys):


In order to locate the precise location of my interests within the Abstract/Survey, I have to be able to pinpoint the ownership Parcel/acreage.

However, All of the online GIS maps provided by the RRC, GLO, OGI Flex - heck even Drilling Info - maps Outline the Abstract/Survey within a County, some even showing the ownership parcels within, but none of them are labeled with ownership/acreage designation. As seen in this image of the GLO GIS map of the Wilson/Karnes County border line:


Unfortunately, I can't afford the $2500-$4500 for a custom map (per county) which will provide this data allowing me to actually locate my interests and their proximity to any current production.

I don't hold out a large amount of hope for anything this thorough existing online, but I am nothing if not an optimist. Let me know if y'all have anymore questions or if you can point me in the right direction.

I believe 227 is one of your abstract numbers in Karnes county. The blue parcel numbers can be clicked to identify surface property ownership. Note that one may also enter Longitude and Latitude. The Eagle Ford equivalent of the Midland Map Company might sell you partial mineral maps centered on your parcels of interest; this would probably be considerably less expensive than buying maps for entire counties.

AJ,
I do believe you may have just answered my question. I am going through the Onemap designations right now. The hardest part will be not having the name associated with the acreage, but hey... the metes and bounds descriptions should fill in the blanks...

Good deal, Mathew!

AJ,
First thank you for enlightening me to the fact that there is an online resource providing Abstract #, Survey Name, and Parcel Ownership information.
However since you posted this yesterday, I haven't been able to figure out how to pull up the map designations for any counties other than the one provided in the link (which while saying Karnes in the web address, actually redirects to Bee County)
Any insight into signing up to getting access to tutorials for how to use their system?
I look forward to you response.
Mathew

You are welcome, Mathew. Many counties in Texas seem to have sites which follow this url template: (county name)cad.org Go to www.karnescad.org and then click on the the "view county maps" link in the column on the left side of the page. If a county of interest is not reachable through the above, try looking on this site:

"Welcome to TexasCAD.com where all Texas Appraisal Districts with a website can easily be found in one location! Simply select the appraisal district you are looking for from the list and it will launch you to the county appraisal page."

I am unsure regarding CAD tutorials. I know the RRC website has tutorials. You might also phone the appraisal district and have them walk you through a search or two. I will be glad to help troubleshoot, too, but I bet you will get a feel for the maps relatively quickly through experimentation alone. Some counties appear not to have websites or interactive maps.