1872 California-Nevada State Boundary Marker

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1872 California-Nevada State Boundary Marker
Nevada-Longitude Side.JPG
The Nevada side of the marker
USA Nevada location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationSouth side of Henness Pass Rd at the California-Nevada state line [1]
Nearest city Verdi, Nevada
Coordinates 39°31′27.8″N120°0′6.7″W / 39.524389°N 120.001861°W / 39.524389; -120.001861 Coordinates: 39°31′27.8″N120°0′6.7″W / 39.524389°N 120.001861°W / 39.524389; -120.001861
Built1872 (1872)
ArchitectAlexey Von Schmidt
NRHP reference No. 81000387
Added to NRHPAugust 27, 1981

The 1872 California-Nevada State Boundary Marker marks the initial point for the 1872 survey delineation of the state line between California and Nevada. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Contents

History

The California side of the marker Oregon-California Side.JPG
The California side of the marker

When California attained statehood in 1850, it adopted 120 degrees west longitude as its eastern border. [2] [3] Between 1855 and 1900 there were six surveys to locate 120 degrees, with each locating 120 degrees of longitude differently. [4] In 1872, Alexey W. Von Schmidt undertook the survey of the state line. He marked his survey line with stones, wood, and iron markers; the only one who placed such markers [4] A new survey in 1893 showed that the Von Schmidt line was 1,600 to 1,800 feet west of the actual 120 degrees. However, California and Nevada both recognize the 1872 Von Schmidt survey and the 1893 survey as the state line. [4]

The 1872 marker near Verdi, Nevada is a four-sided cast iron pylon eight feet tall. It includes the words "CALIFORNIA" on the west face of the pylon, "NEVADA" on the east face, "1872, LONGITUDE 120 WEST OF GREENWICH, A.W. VON SCHMIDT, U.S." on the south face, and "170 MILES 47 CHAINS TO OREGON" on the north face. [4] The marker is surrounded by a wrought iron fence.

The marker was listed in the National Register of Historic Places because it represents the initial point of survey for the California-Nevada border, and is a remnant of this survey.

NGS gives current data for another 1872 marker that may still exist at the northeast corner of California.

See also

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The Von Schmidt State Boundary Monument was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.859) on April 26, 1973. In 1873 San Francisco civil engineer Allexey W. Von Schmidt built the State Boundary Monument in San Bernardino County, California near Needles, California. In 1872 and 1873 Von Schmidt did a survey of the border between California and Nevada/Arizona. The California Historic marker is on the dirt road, Pew Road, also called River Road, 2.6 Miles South of the State Line; 14 Miles North of Needles. The marker is not at the current state boundary, as Von Schmidt made an error in his survey. A new survey in 1893 showed that the Von Schmidt line was 1,600 to 1,800 feet off to the west. The marker is at the southern end of the California-Arizona State boundary. In 1872, a dispute arose between Nevada and California about the location of the state's boundary. Nevada wanted the state divide to be the same as the Sierra Nevada mountain range divide. California wanted the line to the east of the mountain range. When California attained statehood in 1850, it adopted 120 degrees west longitude as its eastern border. Between 1855 and 1900 there were six surveys to locate 120 degrees, with each locating 120 degrees of longitude differently. Von Schmidt applied for and was granted the contract to survey the state's frontier border east of the Sierra Nevada. In 1872 Von Schmidt using only a compass, a sextant and dead reckoning process set out with his crew to define the boundary. Von Schmidt was charged to measure and mark the boundary. Von Schmidt and his crew built stone markers and installed cast iron markers about one mile apart on the length of the state's boundary. Not many of the markers had foundations, so fewer remain today. A new survey in 1893 showed that the Von Schmidt line was 1,600 to 1,800 feet west of the actual 120 degrees. However, California and Nevada both recognize the 1872 Von Schmidt survey and the 1893 survey as the state line. Later the 1893 line was used. The exact location of the north-south California-Nevada border, between Lake Tahoe and the intersection of the southern boundary of Oregon at the 42nd parallel, was contentious and was surveyed and re-surveyed many time. One of the few iron markers that has survived is a near Verdi, Nevada this is a National Historic Landmark called the 1872 California-Nevada State Boundary Marker.

References

  1. Alvis Hendley. "1872 California-Nevada State Boundary Marker". NoeHill Travels in California. Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  2. 1 2 California v. Nevada, 44U.S.125 ( Supreme Court of the United States 1980)("The two straight-line segments that make up the boundary between California and Nevada were initially defined in California's Constitution of 1849. The first, the "north-south" segment, commences on the Oregon border at the intersection of the 42d parallel and the 120th meridian and runs south along that meridian to the 39th parallel. And the second, the "oblique" segment, begins at that parallel and runs in a southeasterly direction to the point where the Colorado River crosses the 35th parallel. Cal.Const., Art. XII (1849). In 1850, when California was admitted to the Union, Congress approved the 1849 Constitution, and with it California's eastern boundary. Act of Sept. 9, 1850, 9 Stat. 452. On the same day that it admitted California, Congress established a territorial government in the area immediately to the east. The organic Act for that new Territory -- which was then called Utah -- stated that it was to be "bounded on the west by the State of California." Act of Sept. 9, 1850, 9 Stat. 453. Eleven years later, the Territory of Nevada was created out of Utah. Congress indicated in the organic Act that Nevada might include portions of what was then California, but with the proviso that "so much of the Territory within the present limits of the State of California shall not be included within this Territory until the State of California shall assent to the same by an act irrevocable without the consent of the United States. . . ." Act of Mar. 2, 1861, 12 Stat. 210. No assent was ever given by California. Accordingly, when Nevada was admitted as a State in 1864, its western boundary and California's eastern one remained congruent.").
  3. Brean, Henery (May 2, 2009). "Nevada and California have a border dispute going back to 1850". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on February 15, 2001. Retrieved June 4, 2018. Alt URL
  4. 1 2 3 4 Abbe, Donald (1979). "1872 California-Nevada State Boundary Marker". National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form. National Park Service. Retrieved 2009-05-09.