Court Opinion

ID: 9829860
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 19:41:26.382613+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:00:45.134192
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Behearing.
[21] Appellee contends that if this court is correct in sustaining assignments of error Nos. 7 and 20; that the errors pointed out should be held to be immaterial. The contention is that the evidence shows as a matter of law that the land in controversy was not dedicated to the public. The map recorded in Book H indicates, as stated in our former opinion, that railroad tracks at the time the map was made crossed a portion of the land in controversy, and indicated some •other occupancy of a portion of such land, and to that extent shows an intention not to ■donate the same to the public, but the block of which half is claimed by Buchanan was laid out as indicated by the map on page 184, Minute Book B, so as to be the same size as block 260, while on the map recorded in Book H the block on which appear lines indicating occupancy is much smaller than block 260 which lies west thereof. The open space left between said block and the one lying east of block 106 is much greater than the space between blocks 106 and 260. It appears to us that such portion of block 266 as can be shown to be included within the block depicted on the map recorded in Book H, if said map furnishes the only evidence on the subject, must be held not to be public grounds or a part of a street. It is, however, impossible for us to determine what portion of the land sued for is embraced within such portion of block 266. As to that part of block 266 which is not embraced within the boundaries of the small block shown on said original map, it cannot be said that the map evidences an intention on the part of its makers to set aside the same as a part of a block reserved by the makers of the map. In other words, the map leaves the question an open one whether a wider street than the other cross streets was intended to be established between the small block covered with diagonal lines and the larger block lying south thereof which is also depicted with diagonal lines crossing it. There is also a vacant space between blocks 104 and 105 and the railroad right of way. There is nothing on the map to indicate for what purpose such space was reserved from being platted, and it appears to have been left open for the public use, just like a similar space adjoining the depot In this connection it is to be noted that there are no words upon any of these spaces such as “public square” or “park,” and most of the streets are without any names. The evidence is rather vague as to who made and recorded the map. West-brook testified:
“In 1859 W. J. Bryan conveyed a right of way 60 feet wide to the railroad. And he also conveyed to the town of Bryan the land on which the town is situated to Groesbeck, Bice, and others in 1860.”
Again he testified that Bryan conveyed tlie land for the town site to W. B. Baker and A. Groesbeck. If there is any deed to the town, it should be introduced in evidence. We believe, from a consideration of all the evidence on this point, that the deed was to Baker and Groesbeck, and that there is no evidence in the record other than the map recorded by them which casts any light upon the question whether they intended to reserve to themselves the open spaces or to dedicate the same to the public If they made and recorded the map, and there is no evidence of any further claim by them to such open spaces, nor any other evidence indicating an intention to retain such spaces, it is clear that the recording of the map does not evidence a transfer to the city of such spaces, but evidences an intention to dedicate the same to the use of the public as commons or ways.
[22] As the evidence does not, in our opinion, show as a matter of law that all the land in controversy was not public grounds, it cannot be said that the errors pointed out were harmless.
The motion for rehearing is overruled.