The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1947-09-11
The Mason And Dixon Line
Continued from Last Week.


Maryland, has been called zone Of
the most important boundaries in
the Western Hemisphere" Since it
was one of the first accurately de-
termined lines, it has been used as a
reference for untold numbers of
other locations since, thereby giving
cause to the unwarranted statement
that if the Mason and Dixon Line
was changed, at would affect every
other boundary line in the United
States"
When the colonies were first open
ed up, Lord Baltimore claimed all of
the peninsular land lying between
the Chesapeake Bay and the Della
ware Bay, and north to the Fortieth
degree of latitude. But William
Penn had thought his grant extend
ed to the tip of the Chesapeake,
where he intended to build a port
city. So the argument, described in
detail last week in this column, was
submitted to the British rule for dis
cusson. Thus it happened that in
1850, Lord Chancellor Hardwick de
termined and stated just where the
northern and eastern boundaries of
Maryland should lie.
The decision rendered by this
gentleman placed the Mason and
Dixon Line, at that time only pro-
posed line, on a parallel of latitude
fifteen miles due south of the south
ernmost part of the City of Philadel-
phia," and divided the peninsula. A
line was to be surveyed from the
Middle Point of the Delaware Pen
insula, northward, tangent to the
west side of the circle of twelve
mile radius" around New Castle
Where this line crossed the fifteen
mile-south- philadelphia latitude,
became the Northeast corner of
Maryland This line beWeen Mary
land and Delaware, not quite due
North, is actually part of the famed
Mason and Dixon Line.
Just as the original grantors had
been in error, so Lord Hardwick also
overlooked minor engineering
technicality-the point of contact,
where the Delaware portion of the
Mason and Dixon Line is tangent to
the New Castle circle, lies south of
the selected parallel of latitude. This
left little three cornered area, east
of the Mason and Dixon Line, north
west of the New Castle Circle, and
south of the selected parallel of lat
itude, a virtual ''No-mans-land." This
tract was little on the map, but it
amounted to $40 acres.
There were near by some charac-
tiers, long since extinct CD, who,
eager to grasp the easily earned dol
lar of illegal business practices,
moved into this area, and for time
defied the laws of any state How
ever, the general Interpretation that
this tract should belong to Pennsyl-
vania became accepted especially
after a re-survey of part of the line
in 1850. But final action was not
taken until after a third survey, just
before 1900 when this tract was
given to Delaware. 1t is interesting
to note that Pennsylvania accepted
this transfer in 1897, but that Della
ware did not get around to accepting
it until 1921, at which time Congress
too gave her assent.
Some time before the year 1916,
the stone placed by Mason and Dix
on at the northeast corner of Mary
land, was unaccountably removed,
So the three states authorized COM
mission to resurvey the eastern part
of the Line. Again, in 1900, the
legislatures of Pennsylvania and
Maryland set up a commission to
ascertain and rework the entire
boundary line" This work was done
in the years from 1900 to 1903, using
HULL IHO1S 11lOOC14l 1l4oG1 O1i1O1AtS
than those used by the original sur
veyors. But it is reported that this
work was little more than "a re-
FRAGMENT of the original line" for
the surveying of the two English
men, hundred and thirty years be-
fore, was found to be very accurate,
even when checked by more modern
standards. Much of the work done
at this time was the replacing of
stones that had disappeared.
At the time of the original survey
ing, a trail was cleared and blazed,
following the line of the markers.
At most places, all signs of this
cleared path, except the stones and
monuments themselves, have COM
pletely disappeared. But in some
mountainous sections, the second
growth of vegetation that sprang up
was of slightly different species and
type, so that perceptable demarka-
ton, bordering the line, remains to-
day. Considerable excitement was