District of Columbia Boundary Markers - Benjamin Banneker

District of Columbia Boundary Markers - Benjamin Banneker

1791

There were 40 boundary stones placed in a square to mark the original boundaries of the District of Columbia. The sandstone markers were placed at one-mile intervals to measure 10 miles on each side, giving a total of 100 square miles. Assisting Andrew Ellicott with mapping and surveying the territory that created the boundaries for the new federal government was Benjamin Banneker, a free Black from Maryland.

Andrew Ellicott

Benjamin Banneker

There are three surviving boundary stones on private property that separate Arlington County from Fairfax County’s Dranesville District: NW1 5607 Powhatan Street, Falls Church

NW2 5298 Old Dominion Drive, McLean

NW3 4013 North Tazewell Street, McLean

Dranesville

In a process known as retrocession, the federal government, in 1847, granted approval to return all of the territory within the District of Columbia on the south side of the Potomac River to the Commonwealth of Virginia. This was the City of Alexandria and what later became Arlington County.