Homestead Alexandria

Washington DC was first surveyed in 1791 and 1792 by Andrew Ellicott. The city was partly in Maryland and partly in Virginia in a square shape 10 miles on each side. Each side of the square was marked by 10 boundary stones for a total of 40 stones around the city. The first stone was placed at Jones Point in Alexandria, VA.

In 1915 the Daughters of the American Revolution protected the boundary stones by placing a fence around each and performing routine maintenance.

Today 37 of the original boundary stones survive. 14 of the original stone locations are in the state of Virginia, in the city of Alexandria or Arlington County since this part of DC was retroceeded back to Virginia prior to the Civil War.

The Alexandria boundary stones are located at Jones Point, next to the Alexandria National Cemetery, on Russell Road, and and three along King Street.


I have visited the following boundary stones in Alexandria:

The South Boundary Stone at Jones Point lies in the seawall next to the lighthouse. The stone is only visible through a small hole cut into the stone, and it is marked by a small plaque. If you cross the small white picket fence, you can lean over for a better view or photo. This is the first boundary stone of Washignton DC and was placed in 1791. It was replaced in 1794, and this second stone remains today.

Southwest Number 1 stone sits enclosed in a large black iron cage behind a white picket fence in an older residential community right at the corner of Wilkes and Payne Streets. Today it sits several hundred feet from its original position, and it has been turned.

The stone called Southwest Number 2 was the third stone placed back in 1791. It stands behind a small iron fence on the east side of Russell Road just north of King Street. The original stone stood about a third of a mile northwest of this site, but has long since been lost. The Duaghters of the American Revolution replaced this stone in 1920, but I'm not sure why they put it so far from the original.