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 th ...

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 (Pe ...

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 territories (land, water or airspace) between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the po ...

between the U.S. states of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Dispute

The boundary dispute involved a brief armed conflict between the two called the Walton War, 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 Car ...

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 an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...

of the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

between Georgia and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. The nominal

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic 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 t ...

of 35°N was later specified by the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

. 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 nam ...

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

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1973, and is located in

Ellicott Rock Wilderness Ellicott Rock Wilderness is a wild area lying at and around the tripoint of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, spanning 8,274 acres. It is managed by the United States Forest Service and is part of the National W ...

. 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), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

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

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 main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, the error affecting

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

(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 was created under an organic act passed by the United States Congress, Congress of the United States. It was approved and signed into law by Presiden ...

(now

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

), 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), 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 ...

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

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

near

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

, 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. The Tennessee River Gorge, commonly referred t ...

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