Well, it was time for another road trip yesterday. Like our previous road trip, this was to a destination that did not require us to be around a lot of people. Instead of going to a wildlife refuge, we ventured out into rural Kansas looking for a survey marker.
This isn’t just any survey marker. It is the one that established the sixth principal meridian at the junction with the 40th parallel base line. This survey marker was the ‘Point of Beginning’ for land surveys in Kansas and Nebraska. It was establised in 1855 by U.S. Surveyors Charles A. Manners and Joseph Ledlie.
On the west side of the road is a benchmark or a U.S. Coast and Geodetic trangulation station.
The importance of this ‘spot in the road’ to land owners in Kansas and Nebraska and beyond was recognized by area surveyors. They created a ‘monument’ to tell the story of this spot.
Pictured below is my husband standing next to the 1987 memorial.
For others that would like to make a similar road trip, this marker is 1 mile west and 1 mile north of the town of Mahaska, Kansas.
For further information on the public land system, the 6th principal merdian and this marker, check out the following sites:
- Public Land Survey System (Wikipedia)
- Sixth Principal Merdian (The Center for Land Use Interpretation)
- The Sixth Principal Meridian Mahaska, Kansas (Kurt A. Luebke)
- Kansas Surveying History (Kansas Society of Land Surveyors)
- Survey Marker (Wikipedia)
That’s really cool. I never thought about memorials at these key survey markers, but it makes perfect sense.
I need to go here! Maybe someday. I live in Colorado.
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