A Sign Notes the Significance of the Confluence Want to borrow this image for your website or blog? Please read Terms & Conditions.

A spot in the middle of a soybean field in north-central Wisconsin marks a confluence of great significance to people who appreciate strange geography. Two invisible lines cross here near the small town of Poniatowski; one representing 45 degrees north latitude and one representing 90 degrees west longitude. The importance of this latitude is perhaps more easily recognizable since it is based upon the placement of both the equator and the north pole, which are logically identifiable. Longitude however is based upon a prime meridian running through Greenwich, England because an International Meridian Conference decided it should be this way in 1884. Had another prime meridian been selected then the 45N 90W spot would have been utterly meaningless, just another spot in a nondescript Midwestern field. Perhaps the sign at this small County park describes the situation best:

GEOLOGICAL MARKER
This spot in Section 14, in the Town of Reitbrock,
Marathon County is the exact center of the Northern
half of the Western Hemisphere. It is here that the
90th meridian of longitude bisects the 45th parallel
of latitude, meaning it is exactly halfway between
the North Pole and the Equator,and is a quarter of
the way around the earth from Greenwich, England.
MARATHON COUNTY PARK COMMISSION

Numerous websites note that it should be called a "Geographical" marker rather than a "Geological" marker, so let's note that for the record and move on.

Survey Marker at 45 North + 90 West Want to borrow this image for your website or blog? Please read Terms & Conditions.

A small rectangular concrete slab rests on the soil a few feet in front of the sign. At the center of the block sits a metallic circular marker reading: "MARATHON COUNTY SURVEYORS OFFICE / IMPRISONMENT OR FINE FOR DISTURBING THIS MARK / 45.00° N + 90.0045.00° W" This monument commemorates the crossing of two imaginary lines.

A Small Park Dedicated to the Notable Spot Want to borrow this image for your website or blog? Please read Terms & Conditions.

This is the little pocket park that Marathon County dedicated to the crossing of the two lines. It is only 50 feet wide and 125 long, and provides just enough room for a couple of cars to pull in without knocking anything over. I couldn't get a good straight-on photograph because it was a wonderfully beautiful morning and, as can be observed by the shadow in the image above, the sun rose brightly and directly above the sign. The slab marker can be seen to the right, where a shadow from the base of the sign touches the ground. Fields surrounded the park on three sides and access could be gained from a road on the western side. The park is so small and innocuous that I nearly drove right past it without even realizing it. This was also about the time that the wife and kids announced that while they were mildly amused by this visiting this remote site, that if I wanted to visit anything more obscure than this I would probably have to find it on my own. However this isn't the first time I've gone out of my way for the intersection of imaginary lines [see my Four Corners page] and it probably won't be the last.

Since you've been kind enough to read all the way through this narrative it's time to let you in on a dirty little secret. The two lines don't actually cross exactly at the marker in the park. They meet a couple of hundred yards away in the middle of the field. I guess the county didn't have enough money to buy all the land it would take to get out there or it wasn't worth the effort, so they figured this was close enough for anyone odd enough to visit. I confirmed this with my hand-held GPS receiver. I wasn't detecting a whole lot of enthusiasm for traipsing out into the field to reach the exact spot so I too considered this "close enough" for this particular strange geography adventure.

Later that same day we traveled to nearby Timm's Hill, the highest point of elevation in the State of Wisconsin. You may be interested in reading my Timm's Hill Summit page.

More Strange Geography

• Previous anomaly: Island Isolation Doesn't Require an Island
• Next anomaly: Timm's Hill Summit
• Series Index: Strange Geography USA

Resources for Planning your Visit

• Greenwich Meridian: Prime Meridian of the World
• The Degree Confluence Project
• Marathon County Wisconsin Special Parks – Reitbrock Geographical Marker (includes driving directions)
• Wisconsin Department of Tourism