Fairfax Stone

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The Fairfax Stone was a surveyor's marker, placed to settle a boundary dispute between Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and the English Privy Council concerning the Northern Neck of the Potomac River, and to determine the proprietorship and boundaries of a large tract of largely unsurveyed land in the colonies of Maryland and Virginia during the Survey of 1736/37. John Savage and his party made the survey, the results of which include both the placement of the Fairfax Stone as well as the establishment of a line of demarcation known as the Fairfax Line, which extends from the Fairfax Stone south to the headwaters of the Rappahannock River.

The stone marks the headwaters of the North Branch Potomac River.

Although the original stone is believed lost (as the stone was most likely simply a natural, unmarked rock selected from among the outcroppings common to the area, in accordance with common surveying practices of the era), nonetheless a replica is maintained at the original site near Garrett County, Maryland, marking theoretically what should represent a corner of the State of Maryland. Because of the way the head of the Potomac River bends around, the stone is only a county corner of West Virginia counties. This issue was only resolved when the Supreme Court ruled against Maryland in determining that Maryland would only go up the Potomac far enough to meet a point where a North line from the Fairfax stone would cross the branch of the Potomac. Without the ruling, the boundary of Maryland did not make any real sense and was indeterminate. West Virginia counties—Tucker County and Preston County— share the boundary marked by the Fairfax Stone (West Virginia having seceded from Virginia during the United States Civil War). The site is now a West Virginia state park.

[edit] See also

• List of West Virginia state parks

[edit] External links

• History of the Fairfax Line
• Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1753-1761

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 39.1949° -79.4874°
  • Satellite image from WikiMapia, Google Maps or Windows Live Local
  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image from TerraServer-USA

	Protected Areas of West Virginia
Federal Protected Areas	Appalachian National Scenic Trail | Bluestone National Scenic River | Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge | Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park | Gauley River National Recreation Area | George Washington National Forest | Harpers Ferry National Historical Park | Monongahela National Forest | New River Gorge National River | Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge | Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area
State Parks	Audra | Babcock | Beartown | Beech Fork | Berkeley Springs | Blackwater Falls | Blennerhassett Island | Bluestone | Cacapon Resort | Camp Creek | Canaan Valley Resort | Carnifex Ferry Battlefield | Cass Scenic Railroad | Cathedral | Cedar Creek | Chief Logan | Droop Mountain Battlefield | Fairfax Stone | Greenbrier River Trail | Hawks Nest | Holly River | Little Beaver | Lost River | Moncove Lake | North Bend Rail Trail | North Bend | Pinnacle Rock | Pipestem Resort | Prickett's Fort | Stonewall Jackson Resort | Tomlinson Run | Tu-Endie-Wei | Twin Falls Resort | Tygart Lake | Valley Falls | Watoga | Watters Smith Memorial
State Forests	Cabwaylingo | Calvin Price | Coopers Rock | Greenbrier | Kanawha | Kumbrabow | Panther | Seneca
Wildlife Management Areas	Allegheny | Amherst-Plymouth | Anawalt | Andrew Rowan | Bear Rock Lakes | Becky Creek | Beech Fork Lake | Berwind Lake | Beury Mountain | Big Ditch | Big Ugly | Bluestone Lake | Briery Mountain | Burches Run Lake | Burnsville Lake | Castleman Run Lake | Cecil H. Underwood | Center Branch | Chief Cornstalk | Conaway Run Lake | Cross Creek | Dunkard Fork | East Lynn Lake | Edwards Run | Elk River | Fork Creek | Fort Mill Ridge | Frozen Camp | Green Bottom | Handley | Hilbert | Hillcrest | Horse Creek | Hughes River | Huttonsville | Lantz Farm and Nature Preserve | Laurel Lake | Lewis Wetzel | McClintic | Meadow River | Mill Creek | Moncove Lake | Morris Creek | Nathaniel Mountain | Pedlar | Pleasant Creek | Plum Orchard Lake | Pruntytown | R.D. Bailey Lake | Ritchie Mines | Sand Hill | Shannondale Springs | Short Mountain | Sleepy Creek | Smoke Camp | Snake Hill | South Branch | Stonecoal Lake | Stonewall Jackson Lake | Stumptown | Summersville Lake | Tate Lohr | Teter Creek Lake | The Jug | Thorn Creek | Tug Fork | Turkey Run | Upper Deckers Creek | Upper Mud River | Valley Bend Wetlands | Wallback | Widmeyer | Woodrum