45th Parallel - Perry, ME
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 44° 59.838 W 067° 05.221
19T E 650779 N 4984430
Along Highway 1 in eastern Maine, this is one of a pair of markers which tell us we are at the 45th parallel. This marker is on the west side of the highway about 1.6 miles north of the little community of Perry, ME.
Waymark Code: WMP3E3
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 06/23/2015
Views: 8
Written on the sign in front of the globe is inscribed:
You Are Halfway Between the
Equator and the North Pole
Perry, Maine
This globe was built and erected as a 45th parallel marker by a gift shop along Highway 1. It's beginning to show a bit of age, but still serves the purpose quite well. Land masses, including larger islands, are not simply painted on, but are pieces of sheet metal cut to shape and affixed to the globe.
Neither marker is, apparently, exactly on the 45th parallel. This one, for example, is about 520 feet south of the actual 45th. This was probably done for convenience.
Most people are probably unaware that the 45th parallel is not midway between the north pole and the equator. This is the result of the earth's being oblate, or bulged at the equator and flattened at the poles. This is caused by the centrifugal force of the earth's spin.
