Boundary Stones (District of Columbia)

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The Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia are the 40 milestones that a survey team led by Major Andrew Ellicott placed in 1791 and 1792 to mark the future of the District's boundaries. Today, 38 of the marker stones survive as the oldest federal monuments in the United States.

The survey team created a visto, or clearing, that encompassed a square of 100 square miles (259 km²) of federal territory that became the District of Columbia in 1801. The survey began at the territory's south corner at Jones Point in Alexandria, Virginia, at the confluence of the Potomac River and Hunting Creek.

The sandstone markers were quarried near Aquia Creek in Virginia. Most weighed about a half-ton at their emplacement; the four corner stones were slightly larger.

The team placed the markers about every mile (1.6 km) along the territory's perimeter, starting at the south corner of the square and continuing clockwise. The Virginia stones were set in 1791 and the Maryland ones in 1792.

The side of a boundary marker that faced the federal territory was inscribed "Jurisdiction of the United States". The opposite side was marked with the name of the border state: Virginia or Maryland. The remaining sides were marked with the year that the team placed the stones and with the marker's compass reading.

In the early 1900s, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) placed fences around the markers.

In the 1990s, most of the markers were entered on the National Register of Historic Places as parts of Multiple Property Submissions (or MPS) for Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia for Virginia in 1991 and for the District of Columbia in 1996.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] Virginia

This boundary marker in Virginia was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and further was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark, in 1976 at the instigation of the Black Bicentennial Committee, which gave the stone its name: [3]

Name Also known as Address City/County
Benjamin Banneker: SW-9 Intermediate Boundary Stone Southwest No. 9 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia West side of Benjamin Banneker Park, 1701 North Van Buren Street, between 18th Street North and Four Mile Run City of Falls Church, Arlington County

This boundary marker in Virginia was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980:[4]

Name Also known as Address City/County
Jones Point Lighthouse and District of Columbia South Cornerstone South Cornerstone of the Original District of Columbia Seawall south of lighthouse, Jones Point Park, 1 Jones Point Drive City of Alexandria

The following boundary markers in Virginia were added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 1, 1991.[5][6][7]

Name Also known as Address City/County
Southwest No. 1 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 1220 Wilkes Street City of Alexandria
Southwest No. 2 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia East side of Russell Road, north of junction with King Street City of Alexandria
Southwest No. 3 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 2952 King Street City of Alexandria
Southwest No. 4 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia King Street north of junction with Wakefield Street City of Alexandria
Southwest No. 5 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia Northeast of junction of King Street and Walter Reed Drive Arlington County
Southwest No. 6 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia South Jefferson Street south of junction with Columbia Pike, in median strip Arlington County, Fairfax County
Southwest No. 7 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia Behind 3101 South Manchester Street, in fence southwest of Carlin Springs Elementary School (5995 5th Road South) parking lot Arlington County, Fairfax County
Southwest No. 8 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia South of junction of Wilson Boulevard and John Marshall Drive, behind apartment building Arlington County, City of Falls Church
West Cornerstone West Jurisdiction Stone In Andrew Ellicott Park at the West Cornerstone, 2824 North Arizona Street Arlington County, City of Falls Church, Fairfax County
Northwest No. 1 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 3607 Powhatan Street Arlington County, Fairfax County
Northwest No. 2 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 5145 North 38th Street Arlington County, Fairfax County
Northwest No. 3 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 4013 North Tazewell Street Arlington County, Fairfax County

[edit] District of Columbia

The following boundary markers (located in the District of Columbia and Maryland) were added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 1, 1996.[8]

Resource Name Also known as Address
Northwest No. 4 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 5906 Dalecarlia Place, Northwest
Northwest No. 5 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia Dalecarlia Reservoir, 600 feet west of Dalecarlia Parkway and 300 feet southeast of concrete culvert
Northwest No. 6 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 150 feet northeast of junction of Park and Western Avenues, Northwest
Northwest No. 7 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 5600 Western Avenue
Northwest No. 8 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 6422 Western Avenue
Northwest No. 9 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia Rock Creek Park, approximately 165 feet Northwest of the centerline of Daniel Road and 5 feet southeast from edge of 2701 Daniel Road
North Corner Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 1880 block of East-West Highway
Northeast No. 2 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 6980 Maple Avenue, Northwest
Northeast No. 3 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 144 feet northwest of junction of Eastern Avenue and Chillum Road
Northeast No. 4 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 5400 Sargent Road
Northeast No. 5 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 4609 Eastern Avenue
Northeast No. 6 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 3601 Eastern Avenue
Northeast No. 7 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia Fort Lincoln Cemetery
Northeast No. 8 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia Kenilworth Aquatics Gardens, northwest of junction of Eastern and Kenilworth Avenues
Northeast No. 9 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 919 Eastern Avenue
East Corner Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 100 feet east of junction of Eastern and Southern Avenues
Southeast No. 1 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 30 feet south of junction of Southern Avenue and D Street
Southeast No. 2 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 4245 Southern Avenue
Southeast No. 3 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 3908 Southern Avenue
Southeast No. 5 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 280 feet northeast of junction of Southern Avenue and Valley Terrace
Southeast No. 6 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 901 Southern Avenue
Southeast No. 7 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 25 feet northeast of junction of Southern Avenue and Indian Head Road
Southeast No. 9 Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia 0.225 miles southwest of the southern end of Oxon Cove Bridge and about 120 feet east of the Potomac River, at the base of a hill[9]

[edit] Missing boundary markers

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Four of the forty original boundary markers were not in or near their original locations in 2006. Three of these had been replaced with substitute markers.[10]

[edit] Southwest No. 2 Boundary Marker

The original marker disappeared before 1900. A marker stone now within a DAR fence near the street curb at 7 Russell Road north of King Street in Alexandria is a replacement. DAR records show that the replacement marker was placed at that location in 1920. The replacement marker lacks an inscription and does not resemble an original boundary marker.[11]

[edit] Northeast No. 1 Boundary Marker

A photograph taken in the early 1900s shows a ceremony that members of the DAR conducted when they placed a fence around this marker stone, which was then in a field.[12] The stone was bulldozed and removed in September 1952 during the construction of a storefront at 7847 Eastern Avenue, NE, northwest of the avenue's intersection with Georgia Avenue. A bronze plaque in the sidewalk in front of a shop at the site marks the stone's former location.[13]

[edit] Southeast No. 4 Boundary Marker

This marker was located in 1976 along Southern Avenue a few feet southeast of the avenue's intersection with Naylor Road.[14] The stone subsequently disappeared but was recovered by volunteers from the Maryland Society of Surveyors while working on a resurvey of the DC line. David R. Doyle of Silver Spring, Maryland, placed the marker in his garage in 1991.[15]

[edit] Southeast No. 8 Boundary Marker

This marker disappeared during construction in 1958. A replacement marker stone that lacks an inscription is located in the southeast corner of the Blue Plains Impoundment Lot on the Maryland side of the impoundment lot's fence. The replacement stone is nearly eight feet below ground level. A concrete pipe embedded in a mound of gravel marks the replacement stone's site. The top of the replacement stone could be seen through the interior of the pipe in 2006.[16]

[edit] Additional Boundary Markers

Boundary marker in Friendship Heights
Boundary marker in Friendship Heights

Three additional stones mark the boundary lines that separate the District of Columbia and Maryland. One such marker exists near the northernmost point of Westmoreland Circle at the junction of Western Avenue NW and Massachusetts Avenue NW.[17] This marker is between the Northwest No. 5 and Northwest No. 6 boundary markers of the original District of Columbia.

A similar marker is in Friendship Heights, near the curb of the north corner of Western Avenue NW and Wisconsin Avenue.[18] This marker is between the Northwest No. 6 and Northwest No. 7 boundary markers of the original District of Columbia.

Another similar marker stands in a traffic circle near Silver Spring at the junction of Eastern Avenue NW, 16th Street NW and Colesville Road.[19] This marker is between the North Corner boundary marker and the former site of the Northeast No. 1 boundary marker of the original District of Columbia.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ U.S. National Park Service: National Register of Historic Places: National Register Information System: Multiple Property Submission List
  2. ^ U.S. National Park Service: National Register Information System: Multiple Covers (Historic Contexts) Search page for retrieving Multiple Property Submissions
  3. ^ Benjamin Banneker: SW 9 Intermediate Boundary Stone in "VIRGINIA - Arlington County" listings at National Register of Historic Places
  4. ^ Jones Point Lighthouse and District of Columbia South Cornerstone in "VIRGINIA - Alexandria County" listings at National Register of Historic Places
  5. ^ Southwest No. 1, Southwest No. 2, Southwest No. 3, Southwest No. 4 and Southwest No. 5 Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia in "VIRGINIA - Alexandria County" listings at National Register of Historic Places
  6. ^ Southwest No. 5, Southwest No. 6, Southwest No. 7 Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia in "Virginia - Arlington County" listings at National Register of Historic Places
  7. ^ West Cornerstone in "VIRGINIA - Falls Church County" listings at National Register of Historic Places
  8. ^ East Corner, North Corner, Northeast No. 2, Northeast No. 3, Northeast No. 4, Northeast No. 5, Northeast No. 6, Northeast No. 7, Northeast No. 8, Northeast No. 9, Northwest No. 4, Northwest No. 5, Northwest No. 6, Northwest No. 7, Northwest No. 8, Northwest No. 9, Southeast No. 1, Southeast No. 2, Southeast No. 3, Southeast No. 5, Southeast No. 6, Southeast No. 7, and Southeast No. 9 Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia in "DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - District of Columbia County" listings at National Register of Historic Places
  9. ^ SE9 in "Boundary Stones of the District of Columbia" from boundary stones.org
  10. ^ "Boundary Stones of the District of Columbia" from boundary stones.org
  11. ^ SW2 in "Boundary Stones of the District of Columbia" from boundary stones.org
  12. ^ Boundary markers of the Nation's Capital : a proposal for their preservation & protection: a National Capital Planning Commission Bicentennial report. National Capital Planning Commission, Washington, DC, 1976; for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
  13. ^ NE1 in "Boundary Stones of the District of Columbia" from boundary stones.org
  14. ^ Boundary markers of the Nation's Capital : a proposal for their preservation & protection: a National Capital Planning Commission Bicentennial report. National Capital Planning Commission, Washington, DC, 1976; for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
  15. ^ SE4 in "Boundary Stones of the District of Columbia" from boundary stones.org
  16. ^ SE8 in "Boundary Stones of the District of Columbia" from boundary stones.org
  17. ^ Coordinates of boundary marker in Westmoreland Circle: 38°56′57″N 77°06′03″W / 38.949213, -77.10084 (Boundary marker in Westmoreland Circle)
  18. ^ Coordinates of boundary marker in Friendship Heights: 38°57′40″N 77°05′09″W / 38.961025, -77.08571 (Boundary marker in Friendship Heights)
  19. ^ Coordinates of boundary marker near Silver Spring: 38°59′32″N 77°02′11″W / 38.992346, -77.036334 (Boundary marker near Silver Spring)

[edit] External links