MASON AND DIXON STONE, [1768] & 1981, Maryland - U.S. Benchmarks on Waymarking.com

MASON AND DIXON STONE, [1768] & 1981, MD, is an 11.75-inch by 12-inch dressed Portland Stone (oolitic limestone) shaft that projects 15 inches. It does NOT mark any boundary line. It is identical in every respect (except for its orientation) to the monuments that Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon used to mark the MD-DE and MD-PA boundary lines during their surveys of 1764 – 176, but Mason and Dixon DID NOT set this stone. It is an intermediate mile marker (designed to mark a mile point NOT divisible by 5) with a cut “M” on one face and a cut “P” on the opposite face. It is in poor condition: The top is weathered, rounded and pitted, and all four corners have been broken off. The stone leans to the north about seven degrees.

The stone is located in thick brush on private agricultural property about 40 feet southwest of the southwest bank of Barren Creek, about eight feet north of the north edge of a cultivated field, and about two feet west of an orange Carsonite witnes post. The location is about 4.8 miles west-southwest of the monument (PID = HU1800) at the southwest corner of Delaware, 3.5 miles southeast of Vienna, MD, and about 1.3 miles southwest of Mardela Springs, MD. To reach from the intersection of US Highway 50 and MD State Highway 54 (aka Main Street) immediately east of Mardela Springs, go west on Main Street for about 0.50 miles to the intersection with Bridge Street. Turn left and go south on Bridge Street for about 0.55 miles to the T-intersection with Athol Road. Turn right and go west on Athol Road for about 1.4 miles to the intersection with Taylors Trail. Turn right and go northwest and west on Taylors Trail for about 0.75 miles to the unpaved driveway leading to house number 24016 (there's a numbered mailbox at the street-end of the unpaved drive). Go north on the unpaved drive for about 0.20 miles to the house. After getting permission to proceed, pack east along the north edge of the cultivated field for about 410 feet (from the east end of the house) to the stone in the brush on the left.

The stone is in both the Geocaching and National Geodetic Survey databases as PID = HU2597, MAS DIX STONE, 1981, NGS: (visit link) and (visit link) . Mr. Ralph Poust of the NGS monumented this stone in 1981. He also “discovered” four others like it in the vicinity, but they are in neither the NGS nor Geocaching databases.

The joint boundary commission that oversaw the Mason and Dixon surveys discharged the surveyors from their duties in early 1768. According to Mason and Dixon’s Journal, a final shipment of 68 stones was enroute from England. Some 35 of those stones were to have been used to mark the southern boundary of Delaware with Maryland, and were probably off-loaded at the Choptank River at Vienna or Sharptown, MD. The southern boundary was never marked, however, and the 35 stones likely “walked off” over time. This stone is probably one of those unused 35.

Condition: Mark found in poor condition Designation: MAS DIX STONE Benchmark Agency: National Geodetic Survey Monumentation type: other (not any of the below) Monumentation type (if other): Dressed stone County: Wicomico Co., MD USGS 7.5' Topographic Quadrangle Name (optional): Mardela Springs Special category (optional): Not listed Special Category (if other): Surplus Mason and Dixon Stone Find type: Found by luck/skill/knowledge Web address of this benchmark's datasheet (optional): [Web Link] NGS PID: HU2597 Benchmark Agency (if other): Not listed Local database's URL (optional): Not listed

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