Zero Milestone
{{Short description|Monument in Washington, D.C}}
{{about|the monument in Washington, D.C.|other similar monuments|Zero mile marker|other uses|Zero Mile (disambiguation){{!}}Zero Mile}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
File:Zero Milestone 100 5015 (4942809865).jpg
The Zero Milestone is a zero mile marker monument in Washington, D.C., erected in 1923 as the initial milestone from which all road distances in the United States would be measured.
Location
The monument stands just south of the White House at the north edge of the Ellipse, within President's Park. Atop the monument is a bronze 16-point compass rose with a very small worn-down pyramid at its center whose top serves as a National Geodetic Survey benchmark (HV1847).{{cite web|url=http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/Washmon/info.htm|title=Washington Monument GPS Height Modernization Project |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: National Geodetic Survey|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204045825/http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/Washmon/info.htm|archive-date=February 4, 2012}}
- Coordinates: {{coord|38|53|42.38736|N|77|02|11.57299|W|region:US-DC_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} (NAD83){{cite web|url=http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds2.prl?retrieval_type=by_pid&PID=HV1847|title=Zero Milestone HV1847 NGS Data Sheet|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: National Geodetic Survey|access-date=July 13, 2020|archive-date=October 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018103723/http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds2.prl?retrieval_type=by_pid&PID=HV1847|url-status=dead}}.
- Altitude: 8.382 m (27.50 ft) (NAVD88){{cite web|url=http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/GEOID/GPSonBM96/gpsbms.html|title=GPS on Benchmarks|date=July 23, 1998|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: National Geodetic Survey|access-date=July 13, 2020|archive-date=February 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212191150/http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/GEOID/GPSonBM96/gpsbms.html|url-status=dead}}.
Description
Designed by Washington architect Horace Peaslee, the monolith is about 2 feet square and about 4 feet high. It is made of precambrian Milford granite from Milford, Massachusetts, light pinkish to greenish gray, with spots of black biotite mica. The bronze disk on top of the milestone is "an adaptation from ancient portolan charts of the so-called wind roses or compass roses from the points of which extended radial lines to all parts of the then known world—the prototype of the modern mariner's compass."{{cite web|url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/zero.cfm|title=Zero Milestone – Washington, DC|first=Richard F.|last=Weingroff|publisher=United States Department of Transportation: Federal Highway Administration|access-date=July 13, 2020|archive-date=July 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708191750/https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/zero.cfm|url-status=live}}.
The monument has engravings on four surfaces:
- North: Zero Milestone
- East: Starting point of Second Transcontinental Motor Convoy over the Bankhead Highway, June 14, 1920
- South: Point for the measurement of distances from Washington on highways of the United States
- West: Starting point of First Transcontinental Motor Convoy{{Cite web|title=DAILY LOG OF THE FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL MOTOR CONVOY; Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, Cal. July 7th to Sept. 6, 1919.|date=1919 |publisher=Eisenhower Presidential Library |access-date=2022-05-02 |url=https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/research/online-documents/1919-convoy/daily-log.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206123509/http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/Research/Digital_Documents/1919Convoy/New%20PDFs/Daily%20log.pdf |archive-date=2010-12-06|quote=July 7. - Departed Camp Meigs, 8:30 A.M. Dedicated Zero Milestone at the Ellipse, Potomac Park, 10 A.M. Departed Washington 11:15 A.M. }}{{Cite web |title=1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy|url=https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/1919-transcontinental-motor-convoy |access-date=2022-05-02 |publisher=Eisenhower Presidential Library|quote=In the summer of 1919, a young Lieutenant Colonel named Dwight D. Eisenhower participated in the first Army transcontinental motor convoy. [...] As an observer for the War Department, Lt. Col. Eisenhower learned first-hand of the difficulties faced in traveling great distances on roads that were impassable and resulted in frequent breakdowns of the military vehicles. These early experiences influenced his later decisions concerning the building of the interstate highway system during his presidential administration. }} over the Lincoln Highway, July 7, 1919
In addition, a "brass plate placed on the ground at the north base" shown below, contains the following inscription:
The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey determined the latitude, longitude and elevation of the Zero Milestone authorized by Act of Congress June 5, 1920 dedicated June 4, 1923
History
File:Jefferson Pier and Washington Monument.jpg, Washington Monument in background (April 2011)]]
In his plan for Washington, Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant intended a column to be placed {{convert|1|mi}} east of the Capitol, in what is now Lincoln Park, "from which all distances of places through the continent were to be calculated."{{cite web|first=Ariel|last=Veroske|date=July 10, 2013|url=https://boundarystones.weta.org/2013/07/10/all-roads-lead-washington-zero-milestone|title=All Roads Lead to Washington: The Zero Milestone|work=Boundary Stones: WETA's Local History Blog|publisher=WETA|access-date=July 13, 2020|archive-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707214659/https://boundarystones.weta.org/2013/07/10/all-roads-lead-washington-zero-milestone|url-status=dead}}. Instead, in 1804, the Jefferson Stone or Jefferson Pier was placed on the meridian of the White House due west of the Capitol ({{convert|390|ft|m|0}} WNW of the center of the Washington Monument) to mark the Washington meridian, 77° 02' 11.56".
The current Zero Milestone monument was conceived by Good Roads Movement advocate Dr. S. M. Johnson, formally proposed on June 7, 1919. He was inspired by ancient Rome's Golden Milestone located in the Forum. On July 7, 1919, a temporary marker for the Zero Milestone was dedicated on the Ellipse south of the White House during ceremonies launching the Army's first attempt to send a convoy of military vehicles across the country to San Francisco, California. On June 5, 1920, Congress authorized the Secretary of War to erect the current monument, design to be approved by the Commission of Fine Arts and installed at no expense to the government. Dr. Johnson took charge of the details and raised donations for the design and construction. The permanent Zero Milestone was dedicated in a ceremony on June 4, 1923.
See also
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/zero.cfm Dept. of Transportation: Zero Milestone]
- [http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=95155248-b24b-4496-a780-e27cadb776ec&IID=59258aba-dbb6-45c8-bc84-aac6af8249b5 North view with inscription "ZERO MILESTONE" and profile of compass rose]
- [http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=3db4f0e6-43a4-4fc0-a2f6-b78e464da405&lat=39.14167&lon=-76.943611&t=3 Compass rose atop the Zero Milestone]
- [http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC2E52&log=y Many comments from geocachers and more pictures]
{{Washington DC landmarks}}
Category:1923 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Category:Monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C.
Category:Road signs in the United States