Benjamin Banneker: SW-9 Intermediate Boundary Stone

Benjamin Banneker: SW 9 Intermediate Boundary Stone

SW9 Boundary Stone
Location 18th and Van Buren Sts., Arlington and Falls Church, Virginia
Coordinates 38°52′58.6″N 77°9′32.6″W / 38.882944°N 77.159056°W / 38.882944; -77.159056Coordinates: 38°52′58.6″N 77°9′32.6″W / 38.882944°N 77.159056°W / 38.882944; -77.159056
Built 1792
NRHP Reference # 76002094
Significant dates
Added to NRHP May 11, 1976[1]
Designated NHL May 11, 1976[2]

Benjamin Banneker: SW 9 Intermediate Boundary Stone, also known as an Intermediate Stone of the District of Columbia, is a surveyors' boundary marker stone, along what was once a boundary of Washington, DC, and now marks part of the boundary between City of Falls Church and Arlington County, Virginia. It is within Arlington County's Benjamin Banneker Park at the corner of North Vanburen Street and 18th Street North. It was named and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976 at the instigation of the Afro-American Bicentennial Corporation to honor Benjamin Banneker, who assisted in the land surveys that laid out Washington's boundaries.[2][3][4] The stone was the first of the District of Columbia boundary markers to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Description and history

The boundary stone is a sandstone block about 1 foot (0.30 m) square in cross section, extending about 15 inches (38 cm) above ground and probably about 2 feet (0.61 m) below ground. The top is rounded and worn. Standardized inscriptions placed on each side of the stone are only partially visible, due in part to the stone's sinking over time. The date "1791" is marked on the 18th Street side, "Virginia" on the east side, "Jurisdiction of the United States" on the west side, and illegible figures on the south side that indicated the stone's deviation from the actual boundary line. A brass marker was once mounted top of the stone, placed in early 1900s by the Daughters of the American Revolution; it has since been removed.[3]

The stone is one of 40 boundary markers of the original District of Columbia.[5] Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) was an African American surveyor, mathematician and astronomer who assisted Andrew Ellicott during the first three months of Ellicott's 1791-1792 survey of the boundaries of the original District of Columbia.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "Banneker (Benjamin) SW-9 Intermediate Boundary Stone". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  3. 1 2 Graves, Lynne Gomez (Historical Projects Director, Afro-American Bicentennial Corporation) (February 3, 1976). "Benjamin Banneker: SW-9 Intermediate Boundary Stone (milestone) of the District of Columbia" (PDF). United States Department of the Interior: National Park Service: National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved August 9, 2011. and Accompanying three photos, undated (32 KB)
  4. ↑ "Benjamin Banneker: SW 9 Intermediate Boundary Stone". VIRGINIA - Arlington County. National Register of Historic Places.com. p. 1. Archived from the original on July 21, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Benjamin Banneker Park". Department of Parks and Recreation, Arlington County, Virginia. Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
  6. ↑ Bedini, Silvio A. (1999), The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The First African-American Man of Science, Second edition, Maryland Historical Society. ISBN 0-938420-59-3
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