[Mile Marker 102, image credit Gary]
Another installment
in my occasional series about visiting and photographing the mile marker stones
set in the mid-1700s by the surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. Super
information about The Line and on-the-ground directions may be found here, courtesy of the Mason & Dixon Line Preservation
Partnership.
Per the Maryland Historical Society:
The Mason and Dixon Line (or Mason-Dixon Line) runs for 233 miles along parallel 39°43’ in the eastern United States, marking the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania. The line was surveyed by English astronomers Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in 1763-1768 to settle property disputes between the Penns and the Calverts, proprietors of Pennsylvania and Maryland, respectively.
Well, since the season has turned and the foliage is down, it was high time to scope out another Mason-Dixon Line marker. This one is Mile 102, located just east of the village of State Line, PA.
It's located smack in the middle of a farmer's field, and the land owners--to their everlasting credit--have protected the marker with a couple of old tractor tires. Not the prettiest of arrangements, but functional enough to preserve this treasure of historic archaeology.
In the photo above, we are looking at the south-facing side of the marker, with the "M" for Maryland clearly visible. The marker stands about 18" high. The opposite side's "P" for Pennsylvania is slightly less well preserved. Unfortunately the photos I took of the "P" side were too dark due to the intense sunshine that day.
This marker was placed on the 4th of November1767 and has remained here since. Nearby is a a spring where I imagine the crew camped for the few days it took to do their astronomical sightings and land surveying.
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