Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1913-12-05
WASHINGTOk'S SURVEY GETS
GOVERNMENT 0. X.

From the Forest Service. U. S. De-
partmeut of Agriculture.
Government surveyors. who
have just been checking up some
of the lines reputed to have been
run by George Washington ia his
days of chain and compass wort,
have found them good.
About ISL, according to 'ra-
dition, George Washington, then
10 years old, ran out for Lord
Thomas Fairfax the line between
what was then to he Augusta
and Frederick counties, Virginia,
this being only part of great
deal of surveying which lie is
said to- have been engaged upon
at that time. These two coun-
ties were separated from what
was then Orange county, and the
grant TO Lord Fairfax was sup
posed to extend westward to the
Pacific ocean. Subsequently
these large tracts were further
Subdivided, so that the Fairfax
line" as it is generally known,
runs now betw.e Ell Rocking II am
and Shenandoah counties, with
the original Augusta and Fred
erick counties to the south and
north respectively.
In the organic act for the for
nation of the two counties, OF
parishes" as they were then
called, it was required that the
line should be a straight one
from the head spring of Hedg-
man river, one of the sources of
the Rappahannock, to the head
spring of the Potomac.
Since it was required that the
line should be straight it was
first necessary to get the approx
innate course bv building large
borflres on the intervening high
points. Then starting from the
top of the Massanutten noun
tains. the line was run straight
away over Intervening mountains
and rivers toward the northwest.
THE FAIRFAX STONE.
Away off across a part of what
is now West Virginia there is a
lLrge rock known today as the
Fairfax Stone. 1t is the monu-
ment which marks the southwest
corner of Garrett county, Md,
the southeast corner of Preston
county, w. Va, and prominel
points in the boundaries in two
other West Virginia counties. A
line from Orange Court House,
Coinciding with the Slenandoa h
and Rockingham county line,
passes through this Fairfax
Stone, which gives the name to
a nearby station, Fairfax, on the
Western MARYLAND railroad. It
has been assumed that, in rum
ming this line, a high peak north
west of Orange Court House was
the starting point and that from
here it was possible to see dis
tant peak in the North mountain
range over the top of the inter
vening Massanutten mountain.
Washington, of course, used a
simple compass, and his line
could not be expected to check
absolutely with that obtained by
the government surveyors vi o
have retraced his survey, using
lIigh-powef transits and all tie
refined and accurate methods
which modern instruments allow.
Nevertheless, the line was run so
carefully in the first place tina
but little variation has BET II
found in it. Even without in
strunents it is possible to dis
tinguish the course of the line
with surprising distinctness.
From the top of Middle mountain
in the Massanutten range, the
Shenandoah Rockingham, or
Fairfax line can be readily fol-
lowed by means of the b. undary
fences dating from earliest days,
and by the blocks of timber, al
ternate:y cleared away or left
standing, Which ctme up from
either county and step 1T tie
line, like squares in a checker
board. Then if one turns to the
the demarka tions are
plain across the valley of the
south fork OF the Shenandoah. |
cutting straight through the
,resent Page county, which is
made Of land formerly in Shen-
Indoall county, belonging to the
rairfax grant, and partly from
and formerly in Rockingham.
Inns, - far IS the eve can see
, either directions, this old line
novp plzinlys
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