The waymark coordinates are for the roadside pull-out for the Ellicott's Stone Historical Park. A well-marked trail leads to the stone a few hundred yards away in thick woods.
The Ellicott Stone marks the first Southern boundary between the United States and what was, in 1799, Spanish Florida. It also serves as the initial point (or Zero Stone) for all public land surveys in the Mississippi territory.
The nearby Alabama state historic marker reads as follows:
ELLICOTT'S STONE
Erected April 9th 1799
Marks 1st Southern Boundary of United States
and the Mississippi Territory created in 1798.
---- 900 feet east ----
Stone marked 31* North Latitude separating the US and Spanish Florida.
This line of demarcation ran from the Mississippi east, along the 31* parallel to the Chattahoochee River, thence down that river to the mouth of the Flint River, thence on a line to the headwaters of the St Mary's river, thence down that river to the Atlantic Ocean.
Major Andrew Ellicott, appointed by George Washington as U.S. Commissioner to survey the boundary as defined in the Treaty of San Lorenzo (1795), was engaged in this expedition from 1796 to 1800. Esteban Minor was appointed Commissioner on the Spanish side.
In 1803, the Ellicott Stone was selected as the Initial Point to begin the U.S. Public Land Surveys which control land boundaries in Southern Alabama and Mississippi (St. Stephen's Meridian)."
For more on the Ellicott Stone, see here: (
visit link)
"The Ellicott Stone
Turner, D. and Pitts, L. (2001) The Ellicott Stone. International Engineering History and Heritage: pp. 147-154.
Near the end of the 18th century, there were sharp clashes among the settlers in the Mississippi Territory, much of it caused by conflicting claims of sovereignty. The initial settlers encountered continuing boundary problems between the British (and later the Americans) and the Spanish in West Florida. In 1795, the Treaty of San Lorenzo el Real finally set the boundary between America and Spain as the 31° line of north latitude. The French, Spanish, and Americans agreed that an astronomer and surveyor by the name of Andrew Ellicott was the person to run the line of demarcation (boundary line) on the ground. Beginning in 1798, Ellicott lead a joint U.S.-Spanish Survey Commission on a two-year project to place monuments along the southern boundary of the nation, as called for by Article 2 of the Treaty. He started at the 31° line of latitude at the western end of the Mississippi Territory, which was about 13 miles south of Clarksville on the Mississippi River, near Bayou Tunica. When the line of demarcation was run past the Alabama city of St. Stephens in 1799, a stone was set on the banks of the Mobile River to denote the boundary. With the exception of this stone, the only other monuments along the boundary were mounds of dirt constructed by the joint survey crews. The marker is now known as the "Ellicott Stone." In 1917, a parcel of land around it was deeded to the City of Mobile to preserve this important historical marker. Today that plot is surrounded by lands of the Alabama Power Company, near the Barry Steam Plant at Axis, Alabama, north of Mobile on U.S. Highway 43. In 1968, the line of demarcation marked by Ellicott's Stone was chosen by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as one of ASCE's ten initial National Historic Civil Engineers Landmarks. A permanent marker was placed at the site to commemorate this designation. This places the old boundary line in the same company as the Hoover Dam and the Brooklyn Bridge. The Alabama Historical Commission recognized the importance of the Ellicott Stone again in 1974 by placing it on the National Register of Historic Places. At the time the Commission noted that it was the oldest aboveground artifact in the Southeast. A marker was placed on the eastern side of U.S. Highway 43, about five miles north of Axis, Alabama, to mark the location. A trail moving eastward leads to the stone."
From the ASCE website listing for the Ellicott Stone: (
visit link)
"The stone was set by the joint U.S.-Spanish survey party on April 10, 1799. Made of sandstone, it is roughly two feet high and eight inches thick. On the north side of the stone is the inscription "U.S. Lat. 31, 1799." On the south side is "Dominio de S.M. Carlos IV, Lat. 31, 1799."
Ellicott's Stone is one of the most important early boundary markers in the history of the Americas, demarking the boundary between Spanish and U.S. territory. The location of Ellicott's Stone was the result of the 1795 Pinckney Treaty (formally called the Treaty of San Lorenzo) between Spain and the U.S. In it, both countries agreed that 31 degrees north latitude-about midway up Alabama-would be the east-west boundary between U.S. Mississippi Territory and Spanish West Florida.
Sir William Dunbar performed the survey east of the Mississippi on behalf of Spain. Major Andrew Ellicott was appointed by fellow surveyor, President George Washington to establish the international boundary starting at the Mobile River and working toward the Atlantic.
The historic stone marker was placed in 1799 near the bank of the Mobile River where the 31st parallel was considered to be. The parallel remained the boundary for only 14 years, until America obtained Mobile from the Spaniards in 1813.
Facts
The Pinckney Treaty included provisions that the boundary would be surveyed and marked to end further disputes. Spain, however, was disappointed to find that both Natchez and the then-thriving community of St. Stephens, Alabama's early capitol, would be on the U.S. side. Spain consequently conducted political maneuvering to delay the survey. Work was held up for three years; but in 1798, the U.S. insisted that the surveying begin.
Ellicott and his survey crew encountered many obstacles, including rough terrain, dissident laborers, nearly impenetrable swamps, and Indian attacks. Using homemade surveying instruments and the stars for guidance, he was able to place the stone just 500 feet south of the true 31st parallel.
This survey established the basis for many later surveys including the St. Stephens Meridian and the St. Stevens Baseline."