Ellicott’s Rock is a

survey marker Survey markers, also called survey marks, survey monuments, or geodetic marks, are objects placed to mark key survey points on the Earth's surface. They are used in geodetic and land surveying. A '' benchmark'' is a type of survey marker that ...

placed in 1811 by

Andrew Ellicott Andrew Ellicott (January 24, 1754 – August 28, 1820) was an American land surveyor who helped map many of the territories west of the Appalachians, surveyed the boundaries of the District of Columbia, continued and completed Pierre (Pete ...

as part of his survey to resolve the

boundary dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources ...

between the U.S. states of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

. The boundary dispute involved a brief armed conflict between the two called the

Walton War The Walton War was an 1804 boundary dispute between the U.S. states of North Carolina and Georgia over the twelve-mile-wide strip of land called the Orphan Strip.Clarence A. "Cal" Carpenter: ''The Walton War and Tales of the Great Smoky Mts.'', ...

, followed by an 1807 survey that Georgia refused to accept. Ellicott, hired by Georgia, undertook a new survey that confirmed the earlier line. He engraved a large rock in the

Chattooga River The Chattooga River (also spelled Chatooga, Chatuga, and Chautaga, variant name Guinekelokee River) is the main tributary of the Tugaloo River. Water course The headwaters of the Chattooga River are located southwest of Cashiers, North Caroli ...

with "N-G", standing for North Carolina - Georgia. The location had been prescribed in part in 1787 by the

Treaty of Beaufort The Treaty of Beaufort, also called the Beaufort Convention, is the treaty that originally set the all-river boundary between the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina. It was named for Beaufort, South Carolina, where it was signed in 1787. ...

, though the river was not named explicitly, but rather as a then-undiscovered

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

of the Savannah River between Georgia and

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

. The nominal

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north po ...

of 35°N was later specified by the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. Two years after Ellicott's survey, commissioners representing North Carolina and

marked a different large rock along the Chattooga River bank with the inscription "Lat 35 AD 1813 NC + S.C." as the juncture where the South Carolina and North Carolina state lines joined. The rock marked by the commissioners in 1813, rather than the rock marked by Ellicott in 1811, is often mistakenly called Ellicott Rock or Ellicott's Rock. To clarify this

misnomer A misnomer is a name that is incorrectly or unsuitably applied. Misnomers often arise because something was named long before its correct nature was known, or because an earlier form of something has been replaced by a later form to which the name ...

, it is also called Commissioners Rock; it is commonly accepted as the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

where the boundary lines of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia meet. There are two versions in print on the distance between the two rocks. One is that Ellicott's original rock was upstream. In the other story, the rocks are much closer. De Hart's ''South Carolina Trails'' guide said that they are a "few feet apart." In the North Carolina trail guide, he said Commissioner Rock is "ten feet downstream."Allen De Hart, ''North Carolina Hiking Trails'' (Appalachian Mountain Club Books,1988, 2nd ed), 61. This rock was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1973, and is located in

Ellicott Rock Wilderness Ellicott Rock Wilderness is managed by the United States Forest Service and is part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. It was first designated by Congress in 1975 with the Eastern Wilderness Act. The majority of this land (approximat ...

. Neither of the rocks is actually on the 35th parallel as Congress specified. That line is actually located about to the south of Ellicott Rock (

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

GNIS The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

coordinates), as shown on

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

. A midpoint several miles to the west is actually much further off, by over a mile in the opposite direction, creating the only significant bend in the otherwise-straight border between the two states. The only endpoint actually at 35°N is at the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

, the error affecting

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

(created in 1796 from North Carolina), as well as the

Mississippi Territory The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the western half of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Mississippi. ...

(now

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

), created mostly from Georgia's

Yazoo lands The Yazoo lands were the central and western regions of the U.S. state of Georgia, when its western border stretched back to the Mississippi. The Yazoo lands were named for the Yazoo nation, that lived on the lower course of the Yazoo, in what ...

. Because the error was on the part of Georgia (by allegedly not supplying Ellicott with the proper

surveying equipment Instruments used in surveying include: * Alidade * Alidade table * Cosmolabe * Dioptra * Dumpy level * Engineer's chain * Geodimeter * Graphometer * Groma (surveying) * Laser scanning * Level * Level staff * Measuring tape * Plane table * Pole (sur ...

), and because Georgia failed to appeal in a reasonable amount of time (

acquiescence In law, acquiescence occurs when a person knowingly stands by without raising any objection to the infringement of their rights, while someone else unknowingly and without malice aforethought acts in a manner inconsistent with their rights. As a ...

), the boundary permanently remains offset, leading to a modern dispute over water in the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names ...

near

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, where a small part of

Nickajack Lake Nickajack Lake is the reservoir created by Nickajack Dam as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The lake stretches from Nickajack Dam to Chickamauga Dam, passing through the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Chattanooga. The Tennessee River Go ...

would have been in Georgia were it not for the errors in Ellicott's survey.

References

External links

National Museum of Surveying article

Location of Ellicott's Rock (Google)
* {{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Oconee County, South Carolina Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Geography of Oconee County, South Carolina