Last night Chas Langelan gave a very entertaining and informative presentation to the Western Chapter of the Virginia Association of Surveyors meeting held in Christiansburg, VA of the history of the Mason - Dixon Line. He showed an original mile stone that had been removed in the 1950's from a farm field by a landowner/farmer and his son that didn't like when his farm equipment hit it abruptly. This milestone, that was Mile Marker 139 on the PA - MD state line, will be placed at the presumed location of the unmarked grave of Charles Mason (of Mason - Dixon). Charles Mason is buried in Christ Church burial grounds in Philadelphia, the same place as Benjamin Franklin.
Chas is a retired professional land surveyor licensed in Maryland and the District of Columbia. He practiced more than 40-years, largely in Washington DC, and ran a busy survey office on Capitol Hill before retiring in 2008. Today Chas serves on the Boards of half-a-dozen professional organizations, including Surveyors Historical Society, the DC Association of Land Surveyors and the Maryland Society of Surveyors where he chairs a local MSS chapter. Additionally, he’s hard at work on the all-volunteer team organizing this summer’s Surveyors Rendezvous 2013, at historic Philadelphia --- to which everyone is invited.
Mason - Dixon Line Preservation Partnership
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One face of the stone with the "M" for Maryland visible. The "P" is no longer visible on the reverse side. (The red bands are NOT flagging. They are part of the apparatus necessary to transport the stone. It has to be pulled on its own trailer attached to a hand truck/dolly. It weighs in excess of 400 pounds. I'm not sure exactly what the astroturf is for.)
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From a different angle
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A visual aid showing how the Mason - Dixon line was worked on.
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Part of Chas's slide show
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Chas showed us a copy of how colonial surveyors were depicted in some artists renderings of the time. The colonial surveyors were learned men. More so than doctors, lawyers and clergy of the time. They and their crews dressed professionally for the serious, yet educated work they were doing. He lamented that we don't always do that today. That's a topic for another thread.
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This is a wrought iron spike that will be set at the location of where "The Stargazers Stone" was, of which there was an article written recently ( I can't seem to find it online). The stone that survives, and has been know as "The Stargazers Stone" is actually a backsight or reference point for their work at Harlan House.
Wikipedia article on The Star Gazer's Stone
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Another view of the square headed spike. It's about 14" long and weighs about 2 pounds or so.
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The Western Chapter of the VAS also presented a check for $1200 to Jerry Taylor of the Land Surveying Department of East Tennessee State University to use for the furthering of Land Surveying education. Shown are Jerry Taylor on the right and Jessica Nash, LS, President of the Western Chapter of the Virginia Association of Surveyors (VAS)
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A great time was had by all!!
Thanks Carl
I really enjoyed reading your post, it made we wish I was there.
Thanks Carl
> I really enjoyed reading your post, it made we wish I was there.
:good: TRUST ME, there was entirely too much information (and fun) to be thrown into a posting like this.
Glad you liked it.
Jerry Taylor gets around. He taught varies survey classes at Michigan Tech when I was there.
The Monument Should Be Returned To It's Original Location
If the farmer cannot see it and drive around it he should pay for it's replacement every year.
Paul in PA
The Monument Should Be Returned To It's Original Location
> If the farmer cannot see it and drive around it he should pay for it's replacement every year.
>
> Paul in PA
Apparently it was yanked in the 1950's. Chas said that about a dozen± are gone from the nearly 300 that are supposed to be on the lines. Of those dozen± the people that own the surrounding land(s) are adamant that anything replacing them will become "missing" as well. I'm just the messenger. Take it up with Chas and/or the Governor's of both PA and MD.
nice Carl...a few questions.
That looks like an original monument that was shipped from =England according to the m7D books that I have....but ,my books says that the last mile post was set at Mile 132. Did you get the number wrong?
even the map that you posted states this also.
Monuments were continually added but not at mile intervals . I assume because of the terrain. I have the table of their field notes where the o/s were calculated for mile distances from their sector readings. around mile 139 they were only a dozen links or so from the "true" parallel..
PA Report on the Resurvey of the Mason-Dixon Line
Mason –Dixon Line Commission
Authorized by the Legislatures of Pennsylvania and Maryland
O.H Tittman, Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
Wm. Bullock Clark, State Geodesist of Maryland
W.C. Hodgkins, Chief of resurvey
1909 Harrison Publishing Co. – Harrisburg, PA (Government Printers)
like Paul, I don't like placing it in a presumed location in the Philly cemetery. That wasn't the intent 😉
Put it back where it is supposed to be or donate it to some local educational institution near where it was supposed to be.
> nice Carl...a few questions.
> That looks like an original monument that was shipped from =England according to the m7D books that I have....but, my books says that the last mile post was set at Mile 132. Did you get the number wrong?
I'm going by what Chas said (I think). If you look on one of the links I posted (I think) it shows that there are monuments at MM 138 and 140. Chas is an entertaining guy, but his presentation can be all over the place. I'm not sure if these were from England or not. He did say that in about 1909 a HUGE pile (about 12' high) of original MM's were found. At that point the DOT's of both states began setting them at the the mile markers. I'm not sure at what mile that began though.
> even the map that you posted states this also.
> Monuments were continually added but not at mile intervals . I assume because of the terrain. I have the table of their field notes where the o/s were calculated for mile distances from their sector readings. around mile 139 they were only a dozen links or so from the "true" parallel..
>
>
> PA Report on the Resurvey of the Mason-Dixon Line
> Mason –Dixon Line Commission
> Authorized by the Legislatures of Pennsylvania and Maryland
> O.H Tittman, Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
> Wm. Bullock Clark, State Geodesist of Maryland
> W.C. Hodgkins, Chief of resurvey
> 1909 Harrison Publishing Co. – Harrisburg, PA (Government Printers)
>
>
>
>
>
> like Paul, I don't like placing it in a presumed location in the Philly cemetery. That wasn't the intent 😉
I know, I know... Hey, I'm just reporting that we had a great meeting, and y'all be bustin' my huevos...
> Put it back where it is supposed to be or donate it to some local educational institution near where it was supposed to be.
Chas and some friends lugged it out of a 100' ravine, I kinda think that they get some choice in the matter now too. 😛
Each One Is Historic, Let Them Move Away
The Mason-Dixon Line should be a historic corridor. It should be kept clear for it's original width and no building less than 200 years should be allowed to encroach.
Paul in PA
A reply from Chas:
The answer to the objections is that the farmer does not want a stone placed in his field. He plants several crops a year there and can't see the obstruction when the fields are high. They removed it years ago for that reason, as have a few other property owners along the line. We've offered to put in a replacement stone for them but they want their field kept clear. This farm is so big they have a Crownstone on it as well, which is in position and well preserved. There are at least half a dozen Mason-Dixon Stones which are not on the line any more, and some are in private hands being used for various historic display purposes. That's essentially what we're planning on doing with this one.
The Landmarks link is worth a look even if you're nor interested in Mason and Dixon.