Jewels in Her Crown: Treasures of Columbia University Libraries Special Collections

Exhibition Themes > History > 98. Maryland-Delaware Boundary Plan

98.  A plan of the boundary lines between the Province of Maryland and the three lower counties on the Delaware with part of the parallel of latitude which is the boundary between the provinces of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Robert Kennedy, 1768. 2 sheets, (54.5 x 76 cm., 54.5 x 77 cm.) RBML, Historical Map Collection

The surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon established the boundary line in 1767, which was to bear their names, resolving a dispute of nearly ninety years between the Penns and the Baltimores. The boundary, 244 miles in length, is printed on two sheets, the eastern line on a single copperplate, the western line, because of its length, divided into three parts, one engraved under the other. This copy belonged to Benjamin Chew (1722-1810), a member of the Boundary Commission established in 1750 by the English High Court.

Gift of the Chew Family through the Courtesy of John T. Chew, 1983

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