page_title: Wedge (border)
section_title: Discovery of the Wedge and basis of dispute
hierarchical_section_title: Wedge (border) / History / Discovery of the Wedge and basis of dispute
caption_attribution_description: English: Map showing a portion of the boundaries of Maryland, Pennsylvania, &amp; Delaware&#160;: as surveyed in 1849 &amp; '50, under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel J.D. Graham, U.S. Topl. Engineers, at the request of H.G.S. Key, Joshua P. Eyre, &amp; Geo. Read Riddle, commissioners of the respective states
context_page_description: The Wedge is a 1.068-square-mile tract of land along the borders of Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Ownership of the land was disputed until 1921; it is now recognized as part of Delaware. The tract was created primarily by the shortcomings of contemporary surveying techniques when the boundaries were defined in the 18th century. It is bounded on the north by an eastern extension of the east–west portion of the Mason–Dixon line, on the west by the north–south portion of the Mason–Dixon line, and on the southeast by the Twelve-Mile Circle around New Castle, Delaware. The crossroads community of Mechanicsville, Delaware lies within the area today.
context_section_description: When this was agreed upon, no one knew what the final shape would really be. Mostly because of the difficulty of surveying the Twelve-Mile Circle tangent point and the Tangent Line, astronomer Charles Mason and surveyor Jeremiah Dixon were hired. This complex border became known as the Mason–Dixon line. There turned out to be a small wedge of land between 39° 43′ N latitude, the Twelve-Mile Circle, and the North Line. The top is roughly ³⁄₄ mile (1.2 km), and the side is roughly 3 miles (4.8 km) long. Maryland clearly no longer had a claim to the Wedge, as it is east of the Mason–Dixon Line, and since the Penns owned both Pennsylvania and Delaware, there was no particular incentive to determine which possession it was a part of, at least until they became separate states.
  Pennsylvania claimed the Wedge because it was beyond the Twelve-Mile Circle and past the Maryland side of the Mason–Dixon Line, therefore part of neither Maryland nor Delaware.
  Delaware claimed the Wedge because it was never intended that Pennsylvania should go below the northern border of Maryland (which originally ran at 40° N all the way to the Delaware River). The North Line is logically an extension of the Tangent Line and therefore should separate Maryland and Delaware. Even though the Wedge is outside the Twelve-Mile Circle, because it is south of the 39° 43′ N compromise line, it should not be part of Pennsylvania.
  Mason and Dixon actually began surveying the Maryland–Pennsylvania border line at the Delaware River, or at least fixed the longitude of the intersection of 39° 43′ N and the river. Even though this point is within the Twelve-Mile Circle, the western boundary of Pennsylvania was to be five degrees of longitude west of it, and Mason and Dixon were to survey the Maryland line to Pennsylvania's western border.
caption: An 1850 survey conducted by Lt. Col. J. D. Graham of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers showing the wedge and features surrounding the boundary line.
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