Existing comment:
Southwest No. 8 Boundary Marker
The U.S. Government erected 40 sandstone markers on the boundaries of the District of Columbia in 1791 and 1792. The boundary survey was initiated by President George Washington and executed by Andrew Ellicott, who became Surveyor General of the United States, and black freeman astronomer Benjamin Banneker. The donation of land from Virginia and Maryland fulfilled Article I, Section 8, Clause 12 of the U.S. Constitution, which set aside 10 mile square for the nation's capital. This stone marked the jurisdiction of the U.S. and that of Virginia. In 1846, Congress returned the land Virginia had donated. |