The Zero Milestone is a zero mile marker monument in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, erected in 1923 as the initial

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...

from which all road distances in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

would be measured.

Location

The monument stands just south of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

at the north edge of the Ellipse, within President's Park. Atop the monument is a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

16-point compass rose with a very small worn-down pyramid at its center whose top serves as a

National Geodetic Survey The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, United States federal agency based in Washington, D.C. that defines and manages a national geographic coordinate system, coordinate system, providing the fou ...

benchmark (HV1847). * Coordinates: ( NAD83) * Altitude: 8.382 m (27.50 ft) ( NAVD88)

Description

monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often made of very hard and solid igneous or metamorphic rock. Some monolit ...

is about 2 feet square and about 4 feet high. It is made of

precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...

Milford granite from Milford,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, 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 chart Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian language, Italian ''portolano'', meaning " ...

s 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.". 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 over the Lincoln Highway, July 7, 1919 Zero mile dc

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

In his plan for Washington, Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant intended a column to be placed east of the Capitol, in what is now Lincoln Park, "from which all distances of places through the continent were to be calculated.". Instead, in 1804, the ''Jefferson Stone'' or '' Jefferson Pier'' was placed on the meridian of the

due west of the Capitol ( WNW of the center of the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...

) 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 San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. On June 5, 1920,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

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.

References

External links

Dept. of Transportation: Zero Milestone

North view with inscription "ZERO MILESTONE" and profile of compass rose

Compass rose atop the Zero Milestone

Many comments from geocachers and more pictures
{{Washington DC landmarks 1923 establishments in Washington, D.C. Monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C. Road signs in the United States Kilometre-zero markers Individual signs in the United States

Location

Description

History

See also

References

External links