A Fallen Mason Dixon Monument

A Mason Dixon Stone on the road from Elkton to Glasgow, after standing nearly a hundred and nineteen years, “yielded to the action of the elements and fell over” on the ground in William Fowler’s wheat field on the farm of the late Andrew McIntire, the Cecil Democrat reported in 1885. The ground is slightly inclined in the field where it stood and for many years, it leaned to the southward until finally a year or two ago it fell over, the paper added.1

Would it not be well for the county commissioners or some of our public-spirited citizens to re-erect the stone in Mr. Flower’s field, the editor inquired. Or “if this is impracticable, is it not the duty of the Executive of the State to cause it to be done at the public expense, or if it not the duty of none of these officials, it might by the Commissioner of the Land Office could be persuaded to do what nobody else would?”

At all events, it should be the duty of somebody to see that these old time-honored, moss-covered relics of a generation which has passed away should not be allowed to be lost and the places which knew once be brought to know them no more,” the editor declared.

When the modern dual highway, Route 40, opened at the Delaware State Line on June 26, 1941, the News Journal noted that the old boundary marker, which designated the state division when Delaware was still part of Pennsylvania, was found. The paper added that the stone would be placed in the grass plot that separates the dual lanes.2

One hundred thirty-four years later, on Dec. 14, 2019, we stopped to visit this 18th-century stone, the one the editor wanted to be preserved as a relic of the past. Although someone must have heard the editor’s plea and reset it, the passage of centuries has been particularly hard on this important stone.

The Mason-Dixon Monument Today

Today, it is barely visible, and the top part of the monument is missing, perhaps having been struck by an automobile. Too, the decades of exposure to passing traffic, snowplows, lawnmowers, and the weather have taken a toll. But the stone’s capital P on the Delaware side (Delaware was part of Pennsylvania when the line was drawn) and the M on the Maryland side are visible, marking the border of the two states.

In the 21st century, others have taken on the role of serving as advocates for the Mason-Dixon Monument at the edge of the Williams Chevrolet property in Elkton. The Pencader Heritage Association in Delaware is trying to get it preserved, so it does not disappear.

According to Keith Jackson, the stone was moved when Route 40 was widened. “Pencader has been trying to get the states’ attention for a couple of years with little success. Jackson is now attempting to get other like-minded organizations on board to help pressure officials to do something. The Susquehanna Chapter of Maryland Society of Surveyors recently signed on to help,” Cecil Whig reported.3

mason dixon monument
A Mason Dixon Monument alongside Route 40 between Elkton and Glasgow.

Also, See

For more photos the album of pictures — A Fallen Mason Dixon Monument

President Kennedy Unveiled Mason Dixon Marker

Endnotes
  1. “A Fallen Monument,” Cecil Democrat, June 6, 1885[]
  2. Dual Road Opened by 2 Governors,” Morning News, June 27, 1941[]
  3. “Historians Trying to Save Mason Dixon Marker on Route 40,” Cecil Whig, Sept. 2, 2016[]

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