Borden Base Line - Deerfield, MA
N 42° 28.773 W 072° 36.388
18T E 696736 N 4705798
An important and historic survey line is commemorated by a simple plaque in Deerfield, Massachusetts.
Waymark Code: WM8QJH
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 05/03/2010
Views: 16
In 1830, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts authorized an important engineering project whose purpose was no less than to conduct an extremely accurate survey of the entire Commonwealth within a period of ten years. The survey would take place using a process known as 'triangulation', in which subsequent survey points are obtained from prior survey points using a triangular-shaped grid.
The accuracy of the very first line (or 'base') of the very first triangle was therefore of extreme importance to the entire project. A machine shop owner and practicing surveyor from Fall River Massachusetts named Simeon Borden (
visit link) developed an apparatus which was deemed to be the most accurate piece of survey equipment of its time, and so it was selected for use on the survey.
The first line of the first triangle was approximately 7.42 miles long, running due north/south from Hatfield MA to South Deerfield MA. The line is known today as the Borden Base Line, and because of its unprecedented accuracy, was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers National Landmark in 1982.
Although the actual survey line lies several thousand feet to the west, this marker, located on the front lawn of the Tilton Library (South Deerfield's public library), commemorates the Borden Base Line with the following inscription:
"The northern end of this seven-mile long survey line lies three thousand feet west, of unprecedented accuracy, it served as the base for mapping all of Massachusetts."