California Surveyors Forums

I've been asked by a historian:
"Hey, are you familiar with the term (in a deed) "overfast" land? As in, "...eighty feet in width except overfast land...."

(This is in Marin County, for what it's worth.) I thought it might be "overflow" lands but the deed (that doesn't want to attach on this post) clearly states "overfast" lands.

And have a nice weekend, all.

Crazy Phil - Surveyor to Recorder

That's a new one on me in descriptions.

In Lancashire slang, someone who is "overfast" is too set in their ways or too fixed. Example: "Yon lad's overfast. Ye'd do well to be clear o' 'im."

A typo? Try replacing every letter with something logical. Or could be a name that didn't get capitalized?

Is the property next to a water course? If so, the term could be related to avulsion.

"Fast" land is that above high water mark that when flooded is subject to government taking.

(From a post on surveyorconnect.com that was answered in 21 minutes after I posted the question!)

Crazy Phil's slippin' LOL

Where is this in Marin County? This term is being discussed on Wisdom Wednesdays now.

https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/cgi/ ... ntext=wvlr

Sorry . . . I have no idea where in Marin, save, along a railroad r/w

Attached is a screen shot from my historian friend.

Phil

interesting information

The term is generally associated with waters subject to flooding and tidal movement. It is not uncommon for a local term to find its way into vernacular like this. I have seen instances where terms like this are colloquial.

When I encounter something like this, I will research other deeds and documents to see if it show's up elsewhere.

Phil,

I happened to run across this exact deed. The screenshot is from Book P of Deeds, Page 416. P Deeds 418 uses the same language. These describe 1874 right of way agreements between Sonoma & Marin Railroad and Atherton, DeLong and Sweetser. Perhaps you recognize the surnames as streets in Downtown Novato. There is a whole interesting history around these deeds and their effect on present-day SMART right of way.

As stated above and in Black's, "fast land" is land above the high-water mark. I could not find any reference to "overfast", but perhaps meant to contrast with "overflow" ? The right of way in this area is all 50' wide, from the north bank of Novato Creek north to Burdell, even though the railroad passes from S&O lands to upland (fast land) and back to S&O lands.

Thanks, Derek!

yeah . . . some really old deed references you dug up!

Appreciatively,

Phil