Capitol Meridian
Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant specified the first meridian in his 1791 "Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of the United States . . .". (Shortly after L'Enfant prepared this plan, its subject received the name "City of Washington".) His plan stated that the longitude of the Congress House, now called the Capitol, would be 0°0'. Longitude of the center of its dome (completed in 1863 during the Civil War) is now given by the National Geodetic Survey as 77°00'32.6"W (NAD 83).
Read more about this topic: Washington Meridian
Famous quotes containing the words capitol and/or meridian:
“A woman with her two children was captured on the steps of the capitol building, whither she had fled for protection, and this, too, while the stars and stripes floated over it.”
—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)
“to these
Hale dead and deathless do the women of the hill
Love for ever meridian through the courters’ trees
And the daughters of darkness flame like Fawkes fires still.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)