The location of the original Willamette Stone is now shown by the circular stainless steel marker west of Portland
The Willamette Stone was a small stone obelisk originally located in the western hills of Portland, Oregon in the United States. It marked the intersection and origin of the Willamette Meridian and Willamette Baseline, which defined the grid system of sections and townships from which all real property in the states of Oregon and Washington has been measured following the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850. The location of the original stone is now indicated by a stainless steel marker in Willamette Stone State Park, an Oregon state park approximately 4 mi (6.4) km west of Portland on Skyline Boulevard in the West Hills overlooking the Tualatin Valley.
The grid defined by the stone extended the Public Land Survey System and was used the basis of land claims in the Oregon Territory. The first marker, a redcedar stake, was placed on the site in 1851 by John B. Preston, the first Surveyor General of Oregon, who was appointed by President Millard Fillmore to create a system for surveying land in the territory. The location was chosen such that the baseline would not cross the Columbia River and the meridian would lie west of Vancouver Lake. The grid system was extension of the system used in the Northwest Territory proposed by Thomas Jefferson. The Willamette Stone marked the location of the first townships and ranges north and south of the marker.
Close up of the marker on the site of the Willamette Stone
The stake was replaced by a stone obelisk in July 25, 1885. On two sides, the stone was marked with the words "BASE" and "LINE", while on the other two sides it was marked with the words "WILL." and "MER." The stone was vandalized in the 1980s and replaced with the current stainless steel circular marker, as well as an accompanying bronze plaque.
External link
Oregon State Parks: Willamette Stone State Park (http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_246.php)
EndOftheOregonTrail.com: Surveying the Land (http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/road2oregon/sa29surveys.html)
Willamette Meridian history (http://www.wmeridian.com/history.html)
The Willamette Stone was a small stone obelisk originally located in the western hills of Portland, Oregon in the United States.
It marked the intersection and origin of the WillametteMeridian and Willamette Baseline, which defined the grid system of sections and townships from which all real property in the states of Oregon and Washington has been measured following the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850.
Baseline Road in Washington County, and Meridian Road in Clackamas and Marion counties, are so named because their alignment lies mostly along the Willamette Baseline and WillametteMeridian, respectively.
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