Properties could move from South to North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C., March 8 (UPI) -- Dozens of homeowners and businesses along the border between North and South Carolina said they were shocked to hear they might be moving states.

The homeowners and businesses said they recently received letters saying they might be a part of North Carolina, instead of the southern state, once a $1 million remapping project that began in the mid-1990s is completed, The Washington Times reported Thursday.

The project used GPS, digital levels and infrared sights with precision distance measuring to check the work of surveyors who used compasses and sextants to determine the border between the two states in the 1730s.

The leaders of the project, which is coming to a close, said many of the landmarks the original survey was based on have since been replaced with roads and modern structures.

"Over time, the evidence of the state boundary disappeared," said North Carolina Geodetic Survey chief Gary Thompson.

Thompson said 93 parcels of land appear to be affected by the project. Sid Miller, co-chairman of the Joint Boundary Commission, said a legislative solution for the affected properties is in the works.