Transpeninsular Line:
In 1751, a line was surveyed straight across the Delmarva Peninsula beginning at Fenwick Island, Delaware and continuing to Taylors Island, Maryland (east to west) to attempt to settle a boundary dispute between William Penn and the Calverts of Maryland. Later in 1763 Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon (of Mason–Dixon line fame) used the the line, which came to be known as the Transpeninsular Line as a basis to start the calculations for the north & south Mason-Dixon Line.
There are no known existing markers used by the surveyors. Some old time locals have said that there was a marker near the Slaughter Creek Marina that, due to erosion, now lies in the Slaughter Creek. Others have researched the issue and believe that the surveyors did not use markers intended to be permanent. If this issue interests you - please check back in the coming months as the Transpeninsular Line is in the process of being researched.
In 1751, a line was surveyed straight across the Delmarva Peninsula beginning at Fenwick Island, Delaware and continuing to Taylors Island, Maryland (east to west) to attempt to settle a boundary dispute between William Penn and the Calverts of Maryland. Later in 1763 Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon (of Mason–Dixon line fame) used the the line, which came to be known as the Transpeninsular Line as a basis to start the calculations for the north & south Mason-Dixon Line.
There are no known existing markers used by the surveyors. Some old time locals have said that there was a marker near the Slaughter Creek Marina that, due to erosion, now lies in the Slaughter Creek. Others have researched the issue and believe that the surveyors did not use markers intended to be permanent. If this issue interests you - please check back in the coming months as the Transpeninsular Line is in the process of being researched.
Below is an excerpt from "Mason and Dixon's Line" a transcript of an address delivered by John H.B. Latrobe to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania on November 8, 1854.
Below is an excerpt from The History of Boundary Dispute Between the Penns and the Baltimores Resulting in the Original Mason and Dixon Line by Edward Bennett Matthews
