Sailing to Philadelphia - U.S. 15 Mason and Dixon Discovery Center- Emmitsburg, MD
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NorStar
N 39° 42.495 W 077° 18.813
18S E 301668 N 4397935
The Mason & Dixon Discovery Center located a few miles south of the actual Mason-Dixon Line, is a safer place to stop and ponder the line, while reminding us of the song, "Sailing to Philadelphia," which is about the two men who established that line
Waymark Code: WMMXKK
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 11/20/2014
Views: 4
If you are travelling south on U.S. 15 from Gettysburg, you first reach the Maryland-Pennsylvania boundary. In the highway meridian, there is a small brown double-sided sign saying "Mason-Dixon Line." A few miles down is a rest stop known as the Mason-Dixon Discovery Center; a combination of a tourist information center and small museum, which is a fitting (and safer) place remember the song, "Sailing to Philadelphia."
The song, "Sailing to Philadelphia," was written by Mark Knopfler and released in 2006 in the album of the same name. I first heard of the song some time later in the album, October Road by James Taylor, in 2002. I also heard this song on a folk radio station in Boston. The album had been well received and ranked high in many charts, and 60th on the Billboard chart. By 2002, the album had sold 3.5 million copies worldwide.
The lyrics are from the point of view of the two men, Mason and Dixon, having a conversation about the dreams and
"Now you're a good surveyor, Dixon
But I swear you'll make me mad
The West will kill us both
You gullible Geordie lad
You talk of liberty
How can America be free
A Geordie and a baker's boy
In the forests of the Iroquois
...
We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
A Mason-Dixon Line"
There are several buildings here. The main building contains the information center and discovery center. A link to an article below when the center opened in 2006.
Source:
Gazette (Emmitsburg welcome center celebrates grand opening):
(
visit link)
Wikipedia (Sailing to Philadelphia):
(
visit link)