Click image to enlarge. In 1796, as a result of the Treaty of San Lorenzo el Real, also known as the Pinckney Treaty, President George Washington appointed Maj. Andrew Ellicott, astronomer and surveyor, to survey and mark the "line of demarcation" establishing the boundary between the Mississippi Territory (including what is now Alabama) and Spanish West Florida. In 1799 Major Ellicott marked the boundary at the 31st parallel of North latitude with what is known today as the Ellicott Stone. This historic monolith, an irregular piece of brown ferruginous sandstone, is inscribed on the north side "U.S. Lat. 31 1799" and on the south side "Dominos de S.M.C. CAROLUS IV. Lat. 31 1799" (Dominion of his Catholic Majesty Charles IV).
The stone--the only known stone monument set by Ellicott during his 1797-1800 survey--is recognized by the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors as the "oldest historical surveying monument in the southeast" and by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Engineering Landmark. In 1972 the National Park Service included the stone on the National Register of Historic Places.
Donated to the City of Mobile in 1917, along with a 50'x50' plot of land, the stone sits on its original site, where it should remain. The monolith, however, needs to be protected from the weather, which is eroding the inscription, and from vandals who occasionally chip off pieces of the rock. Concerned about these problems, the City of Mobile has applied for a grant from the Alabama Historical Commission to develop a master plan for the stone's preservation, including a plan to control access to the site.
Donated to the City of Mobile in 1917, along with a 50'x50' plot of land, the stone sits on its original site, where it should remain. The monolith, however, needs to be protected from the weather, which is eroding the inscription, and from vandals who occasionally chip off pieces of the rock. Concerned about these problems, the City of Mobile has applied for a grant from the Alabama Historical Commission to develop a master plan for the stone's preservation, including a plan to control access to the site.
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