CONTACT: Susan Harding, Acting Public Information Officer, 301-600-1385
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, September 25, 2006

THE CITY OF FREDERICK REDEDICATES
HISTORIC COMPASS MERIDIAN STONE

Frederick, MD --- For five generations, two strange but very special stones have graced Old Courthouse Square (presently the site of City Hall) in the City of Frederick, Maryland. These special stones are known as Compass Meridian Stones mandated by the Maryland Legislature in 1870 for the purpose of calibrating surveyor’s compasses to magnetic declination. Since 1896, the two stones have stood perfectly aligned with True North until a disturbance knocked monument “South Magnetic” out of position. As a volunteer project of the Appalachian Chapter of the Maryland Society of Surveyors, the South Meridian Stone of Fredericktowne was reset with the support and cooperation of the City of Frederick. The North Magnetic Stone has been located by GPS observations and the coordinates are now part of the City Control Database.
A rededication ceremony of the restored South Magnetic stone will be held Wednesday, September 27 at 12:00 noon on the Southeast corner of the front lawn of City Hall, 101 North Court Street, in the City of Frederick. Representatives from both the Maryland Society of Surveyors and the City will unveil a bronze tablet which will commemorate the history of the stones and the rededication ceremony. This ceremony is open to the public.