FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2022-203 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson) 

LOVELAND, OH (November 15, 2022) – In Issue 2022-203 of Steve Kovacs Fun with Maps, we meet Mr. Mason and Mr. Dixon.

 Land of Confusion

Land of Confusion – the boundaries among Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware – was created by the contradictory Royal orders in the mid-17th century resulting in boundary disputes between the then British Colonies.

These disputes weren’t small.  Maryland claimed a boundary extending north of Philadelphia as well as all of owning Delaware.  At the same time Pennsylvania claimed territory extending almost to today’s Washington DC.

Eventually, there was an agreement in principle reached among the parties on the approximate boundaries.  They then hired the British pair of Charles Mason, an astronomer, and Jeremiah Dixon, a surveyor, to finalize the boundaries of the three future states.

Thus, the Mason-Dixon line was born on November 15, 1763, when the pair begun their surveys. 

To this day you can find most of the markers they erected one mile apart as well as the “crownstones” every five miles apart.

The Mason-Dixon line is shown on this 1880 Gray map of Maryland and Delaware.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.