D.C.'s First Building Block

In 1791, surveyors on Jones Point began laying out the ten-mile square that would become Washington, D.C., and the first survey marker, the south cornerstone, was set in place there. Although the stone within the protective enclosure may be a replacement dating from 1794, it is still among the oldest surviving physical monuments associated with the federal city. Rising water from Hunting Creek long threatened the cornerstone, and in 1861 a retaining wall was built in front of it, creating a raised yard at the lighthouse constructed six years earlier. Hidden behind that wall, the stone remained lost for more than five decades until its rediscovery was celebrated in 1921. In 1916, the Daughters of the American Revolution assumed responsibility for maintaining Washington, D.C.'s cornerstones and mile markers, and in 1926 purchased the Jones Point lighthouse and later deeded it to the National Park Service. Today, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the National Park Service work together to preserve and interpret the south cornerstone and the adjacent lighthouse. The weathered inscription on the south cornerstone is now illegible, while the other cornerstones bear the name of the state, either Virginia or Maryland, the year, the compass heading, and the phrase 'Jurisdiction of the United States.'

Alexandria, Virginia · United States