A silent, unassuming marker rests before you, flush with the ground. This is the Meridian Stone, a granite square whispering tales of ambition and obsolescence. The Meridian Stone, placed in the Ellipse in 1890, was meant to mark a grand vision. Thomas Jefferson, in 1793, envisioned a prime meridian for the United States, running through the nation’s capital. He marked his chosen spot, the intersection of a line between the White House and the Capitol, with a simple wooden post. This point, near the present Washington Monument, represented Jefferson’s desire for American scientific independence from Great Britain. The Meridian Stone was meant to be a permanent marker on this “Washington Meridian,” a line running due north from the White House. However, the world, and cartography, moved on. In 1884, an international conference selected Greenwich as the prime meridian. The Washington Meridian faded into history, a silent testament to a bold, if ultimately unsuccessful, idea. The Meridian Stone remains, a quiet echo of Jefferson’s dream and a reminder that even the most carefully laid plans can be overtaken by the march of progress.
Центральный дом работников искусств
Step through the grand wooden doors of the Central House of the Workers of Art, and you’ll be transported to