Ellicott's Stone

{{Short description|Historic boundary marker in Mobile County, Alabama, US}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Ellicott Stone

| nrhp_type =

| image = Ellicott's Stone front.jpg

| caption = The south side of the stone. It reads: Dominio De S.M. Carlos IV, Lat. 31, 1799.

| nearest_city = Bucks, Alabama

| coordinates = {{coord|30|59|52.11|N|88|01|21.06|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Alabama#USA

| built = 1799

| architect =

| architecture =

| added = April 11, 1973

| area = less than one acre

| refnum = 73000359{{cite web|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/73000359|title=Ellicott Stone|work=NPGallery Digital Asset Management System|publisher=United States Department of the Interior: National Park Service|accessdate=2018-05-27}}{{cite web|last=Floyd|first=W. Warner, Executive Director, Alabama Historical Commission, Montgomery, Alabama|date=1972-10-04|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/6c9d23e5-becd-49b5-9352-aacaf9aa1c34|title=Ellicott Stone|work=National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form|publisher=United States Department of the Interior: National Park Service|accessdate=2018-05-27}}

}}

Ellicott's Stone, also known as the Ellicott Stone, is a boundary marker in northern Mobile County, Alabama. It was placed on April 10, 1799, by a joint U.S.-Spanish survey party headed by Andrew Ellicott.{{cite web |url=https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/ellicott-stone |title=Ellicott Stone |author= |website=American Society of Civil Engineers |access-date=2022-01-29}}(1) {{cite web|title=Alabama Surveying History |work=Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors |url=http://www.aspls.org/history.html |accessdate=2008-03-06 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513225712/http://www.aspls.org/history.html |archivedate=2008-05-13 }} It was designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1968 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1973.

It is the only known stone monument set by Ellicott when he surveyed the 31st parallel north latitude, which served as the boundary line between the Mississippi Territory in the United States and Spanish West Florida. The boundary line extended along the 31st parallel from the Mississippi River east to the Chattahoochee River, as set forth in the 1795 Pinckney Treaty, formally known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo.{{cite web|title=Historic Markers: Mobile County |work=Alabama Department of Archives and History |url=http://www.archives.state.al.us/markers/imobile.html |accessdate=2008-03-06 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207100436/http://www.archives.state.al.us/markers/imobile.html |archivedate=2008-02-07 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|title=Mobile: Alabama's Tricentennial City|work=Alabama Department of Archives and History|url=http://www.archives.state.al.us/mobile/mobile2.html|accessdate=2008-03-06|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024826/http://www.archives.state.al.us/mobile/mobile2.html|url-status=dead}}

Ellicott's Stone is the initial point for all United States Public Land surveys in the southern region of Alabama and Mississippi. It is the point of intersection of what is known today as the St. Stephens meridian and the St. Stephens baseline. All townships in the area are numbered from the stone.

The marker stone is located east of U.S. Route 43 in Ellicott Stone Historical Park, about {{convert|1|mi|km|1}} south of Bucks, Alabama.{{cite web|url=http://leepeacock2010.blogspot.com/search?q=Ellicott|title=Life List Update – No. 723: Visit Ellicott's Stone|work=Dispatches from the LP-OP|last=Peacock|first=Lee|date=2013-07-15|via=Blogspot|accessdate=2017-05-27}} The park was established in 1917.{{cite web|first=Mark|last=Hilton|date=2013-12-05|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=104073|title="Ellicott's Stone" marker|work=HMdb: The Historical Marker Database|accessdate=2021-03-06}} It is now near the James M. Barry Electric Generating Plant, west of the Mobile River.