Web www.howderfamily.com

Washington, DC Boundary Stones
September 2000

Also be sure to see the Travel/Geography Blog

The West Cornerston (video from March 2008)

Beginning in 1791, a survey party placed stones marking the boundary of the District of Columbia, one mile apart in a diamond pattern, ten miles on a side. Two thirds of the land came from Maryland and one third from Virginia. This land formed the new capital of the United States of America. In a retrocession in 1847, the Federal government returned Virginia's portion. This former piece of the District of Columbia today forms the County of Arlington and a section of the City of Alexandria, Virginia. For more information on the retrocession see The Arlington Historical Magazine, Volume 6 Number 2 (1978), "When Arlington was part of the District of Columbia," by Dean C. Allard. Many of those old stones remain in place, including some marking the pre-1847 boundary. The photographs on this page show several of the stones that mark a District of Columbia boundary that no longer exists. If you want to see photographs and a map of many of the stones, please visit Mark Zimmermann's wonderfully researched and beautifully compiled District of Columbia Boundary Stones: Photos & GPS Waypoints page. Want to borrow this image for your website or blog? Please read Terms & Conditions South Cornerstone The first boundary marker placed was at the southern corner. From here the survey party continued northwest and then up and around the perimeter. The photograph above shows the first stone. It is located at the Jones Point Lighthouse in Alexandria, near where the Woodrow Wilson Bridge crosses the Potomac River. To get this view, one must walk onto the rocks along the riverbank directly in front of the lighthouse. For an easier view, there is a peephole directly above the stone (look towards the top of the photo) next to the little plaque at the edge of the lighthouse lawn. Want to borrow this image for your website or blog? Please read Terms & Conditions Southwest Stone 6 Southwest Stone 6 can be found very easily in the median of Jefferson St., between Leesburg Turnpike and Columbia Pike, now marking the boundary between Arlington and Fairfax Counties, Virginia. Most people driving along Jefferson St. probably don't realize its significance, or perhaps think it's a tombstone. Want to borrow this image for your website or blog? Please read Terms & Conditions Southwest Stone 9 Southwest Stone 9 sits in a pretty little park in a quiet neighborhood on Van Buren St., very near the East Falls Church subway station. Today it marks the boundary between the City of Falls Church and Arlington County, Virginia. Want to borrow this image for your website or blog? Please read Terms & Conditions West Cornerstone The cornerstone at the former western boundary rests in a small park maintained by the City of Falls Church and the Counties of Arlington and Fairfax, Virginia, where all three jurisdictions come together at a point. Someone placed bricks to mark the approximate boundary line, and in the photograph above, Falls Church is on the left and Arlington is on the right. The boundary stone sits in the distance inside the small fence. The park can be reached quite easily from Arizona St. in Arlington.