Mason-Dixon Markers on route 467 about 7 miles west of Delmar (Preserved by Delaware State Society, D.A.R.)
These monuments erected in colonial times mark a decisive point in lines run to settle boundary disputes between the Penn and Calvert families, whose Coats-of-Arms they bear.
The small stone marks the middle point of the Trans-peninsular, Line run west in 1759 from "Cape Henlopen" - actually Fenwick Island on the Atlantic.
The double crownstone installed in 1768 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon is a cornerstone and marks the true middle point of the peninsula and the southern end of the north-south line of the Mason-Dixon boundary.
Color photo by F. W. Brueckmann
unused Plastichrome postcard
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The Mason–Dixon line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. It is a demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (then part of Virginia).
In popular usage, the Mason–Dixon line symbolizes a cultural boundary between the Northeastern and the Southern United States (Dixie). After Pennsylvania abolished slavery, it was a demarcation line for the legality of slavery. However, its latitude was not such a demarcation beyond the Pennsylvania border since Delaware, a slave state, falls north and east of the boundary.
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