This marker is a concrete pedestal that sits on top of Turkey Hill. To reach it, you will have to hike the 3 mile round trip Turkey Hill Overlook Trail, which is how I accidentally found this marker. There are roads that lead to the area around the neighboring wind turbines but they are on private property. However, there are occasional public tours offered which would place you close to this marker.
Description from the NGS website (
visit link) :
"DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1950 (MLC)
THE STATION IS LOCATED ON THE HIGHEST POINT WEST OF TURKEY HILL DAIRY FARM, 7 MILES SSE OF THE TOWN OF COLUMBIA, 5-1/2 MILES NE OF SAFE HARBOR, 6 FEET FROM EDGE OF THE RIVER ENBANKMENT (WHICH IS ABOUT 390 FEET ABOVE THE LAKE FORMED BY THE SAFE HARBOR DAM), 335 FEET NE OF TURKEY HILL 1934, ABOUT 233 FEET NNE OF TURKEY RM NO 2 AND ABOUT 360 FEET SE OF TURKEY HILL RM NO 1.
STATION MARK IS STANDARD DISK SET IN CONCRETE STAMPED SUSQUEHANNOCK 1950 AND IS ABOUT 30 INCHES UNDERGROUND. (THE MARK WAS SET BY C.F. MERRIAM, PA. WATER AND POWER CO.)
TO REACH THE STATION FROM COLUMBIA, GO SOUTH ON RIVER ROAD 6.3 MILES TO TURKEY HILL DAIRY. TURN RIGHT WHERE MAIN ROAD TURNS LEFT. PROCEED THROUGH BARNYARD AND CONTINUE 0.7 MILE TO TOP OF HILL AND GATE. STATION IS ABOUT 100 YARDS ACROSS CULTIVATED FIELD. ENE FROM THE GATE."
From an article on the Lancaster Online website at (
visit link) :
"To enhance the stunning view atop Turkey Hill and at the same time give visitors a close-up view of the wind turbines, the waste authority built a rustic wooded observation deck at a cost of $10,493. Opened in May 2011, the platform is built around a strange cement column that rises from the ground. It's actually a survey marker placed there in 1950 by the National Geodetic Survey.
The NGS, initiated in 1924, helps surveyors determine areas taking the earth's curved surface into account. The brass cap atop the marker was used to support survey instruments.
Walk to the railing and take in the Susquehanna at its widest point. Prominent are the Conejohela Flats, an array of small islands and sand bars that are heavily used by migratory shorebirds each spring and fall.
So vital is this resting stop for the thousands of shorebirds heading back and forth between breeding grounds in Arctic Canada and Alaska and over-wintering grounds in South and Central America, as well as the Gulf States, that the area was designated an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society.
You will be standing at the exact spot where Benjamin Henry Latrobe sat with his easel, sketching and waterpainting the view in 1802. The painting was a sidelight to the real reason Latrobe was in the area: to survey the river and recommend improvements for navigation, namely a proposed canal. His paintings, two of which are shown in interpretive displays at the vista, are remarkably similar to the view today.
But they are snapshots before canals, dams, railroads and bridges industrialized the river. The discovery of Latrobe coming to Turkey Hill and historical research for the displays were provided by the Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area."