All Idaho land surveys refer to Initial Point, a beginning point 16 miles directly south of here. When he began surveying Idaho in 1867, Lafayette Cartee, first surveyor general of Idaho Territory, established this point on a volcanic hill visible for many miles. Surveyors throughout Idaho depend upon this essential point in establishing land boundaries. The city of Meridian takes its name from the Boise Meridian, the surveyors' north-south line that runs through Initial Point.