Overlooked: Boundary Stones

This week, Del Ray Patch is taking a look at some of the historical markers and other things that might be overlooked in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Near the foot of Russell Road and its busy intersection with King Street sits a small stone marker surrounded by a green fence barrier.

While the stone might look inconsequential, it is actually a boundary stone marking the original 100-square-mile site for the nation’s capital surveyed by Andrew Ellicott and his assistant Benjamin Banneker in the late 18th century.

This stone is not an original, nor is it at its original location. The first stone was located just to the northwest of the current marker. The Washington chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution placed the marker at its current site in 1920 when the group took it upon itself to preserve this country’s oldest federal monuments.

There are three other boundary stones in Alexandria: The southernmost stone is located in an enclosure in the Jones Point Lighthouse and cannot be seen. Alexandria’s other visible stones are located at 1220 Wilkes St. and 2932 King St.

For more information on the boundary stones of the District of Columbia, check out boundarystones.org.    

 More Overlooked:

• Overlooked: Del Ray's World War II Memorial
• Overlooked: Del Ray's Historical Markers
• Overlooked: Braddock’s Cannon
• Overlooked: Quirky Stuff

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