A Surveyor's Washington, DC Notebook
I like to preface things that I write by stating that critique is half of what I do. I believe that half of an educators job is teaching the facts, and that the other half is exposing untruths. Here, critique entails taking a given premise that I know or believe to be wrong and showing just why it is that I believe as I do. This is something that I learned to do in graduate level philosophy of science classes for some years. Take for instance the idea that there is not really a pentagram being depicted in the DC map plan. This argument runs from there is one but its accidental, if there is one its not intentional, there is not one, to its not really a pentagram because it is not complete. I recommend that there is a pentagram in the map, that it consists of 5 crossing lines making 15 segements, and that leaving one segment out does not negate the figure, just as leaving off the right side of the triangle does not keep us from recognizing that. I suggest that the internal dimensions of the rhombus within the pentagram set the scale both n/s and e/w in the map. You will find that the map triangle has base angle of ~52 degrees like the Great Pyramid, that is it is not equilateral. The DC grid was generated by shortening the equilateral triangle and its diagonals. My point is that I am presenting an idea based on a system built around the pentagram in the map that appears to describe the grid used there for the streets, and the only thing geometric that those people have to say is that there is not really a pentagram there. I repeat, not only are they not researching the DC map, there are impeeding serious research. Premise from page 333 "Secret Architecture": "While there are indications that Washington did ride over the grounds looking at the land with a surveyor's eye, there is no indication that he was involved with the details of the design" (of Washington DC). This quote about Washington comes from a page where David Ovason is attempting to elevate the status of Andrew Ellicott the surveyor for the project. You will want to note that Ovason is not a fan of L'Enfant and takes every opportunity to put him down and build Ellicott up. He rarely mentions Jefferson, dismisses Washington's part, and dengrates L'Enfant, leaving only Ellicott as the hero of his book. I repeat, he does not even consider Washington and Jefferson's roles in the planning of this event, but some how tries to make Ellicott out to be the real mind behind the plan (city) as we see it. Remember that Ellicott was a surveyor, not an designer or builder like Jefferson and L'Enfant. He was brought in to layout the boundaries and streets, not to design the plan. When he took over from L'Enfant, it was only to complete the job of preparing a plate for engraving the map which included street names and lot numbers. I intend to show here how the very position of the district appears to indicate just how involved Washington and Jefferson were with this project. I suggest to anyone who wants to do a serious study of the DC map, that they examine first where George Washington, Mrs. Custis, and Thomas Jefferson lived. Next take a look at how 16th Street (in red below), which centers on the White House and the Jefferson Memorial, projected straight down the Potomac River toward Washington's home. If you look at the real numbers we see the longitude of Mt Vernon to be 77 05 12 and the longitude of 16th St is 77 02 12. That's 3 minutes difference. At Mt Vernon, you can't get much further east, because of the water. Both George Washington and Martha Custis, his wife, owned lots of land in the 100 square mile area that he chose for the location of the nation's new Capital (hundreds of acres). Mrs. Washington inherited what is now Arlington Cemetery (900 acres) when her husband died. Above we see a map of Virginia. The red dot represents the location of Monticello, Th. Jefferson's home. I am highlighting a north/south line with a red rectangle that located DC and Mount Vernon, Geo. Washington's home. Below we see a closeup of the area in the rectangle. Below we see Andrew Ellicott's 1793 map of the city of Washington, within the District of Columbia. As the longitude of the north boundary stone has been determined to be 77.041, and the longitude of the stone at Jones point (south) is 77.0398, we can presume that the intended number was 77.4 or 77 02 24. Looking at the longitude listed for the White House, we find it to be 77.03655 or 77 02 11.5. The longitude listed for Mt Vernon is 77.0861, a little west of that line. As you can see below, 16th St is east of that line. You can see also that Capitol St through the Capitol is south of the east west line. By modern reckoning, the Capitol is located at 77.00983 W. Looking at the longitude of the Capitol we see that is just west of 77 degrees. Looking the the longitude of Monticello we see that is is just about 78.5 degrees, a degree and a half west. Looking at the latitude of Monticello we see 38 degrees, and the north point of the district is at 39 degrees. A bearing of 45 degrees from Monticello brings you very close to the top point of the district. The first thing that Jefferson shows us is that a degree of latitude is very close to equaling a degree and a half of longitude at 38 degrees north. I recommend that the plan was to form a 45 degree triangle with one side on 77 degrees longitude and one on 38 degrees latitude. This appears to suggest that Jefferson believed that one degree of latitude was equal to a degree and a half of longitude. That is the line running southwest from the north corner of the district boundary was intended to intersect Monticello. While the longitude and latitude of Monticello are given as 38 00 30 and 78 27 12, we know that those are numbers for the house, which was positioned for the view, and that the point used for calculating bearings and distances was probably 38 and 78.5 degrees, which is no doubt on the property. If we check the bearing and distance from there to the location of the Jefferson Memorial (38 52 53 77 02 26) we find the bearing to be 51.91 degrees at a distance of 99.717 miles. The base angle of the GP is 51_51 or 51.85 degrees. Convert Degrees, Minutes, Seconds and Decimal Degrees Latitude/Longitude Determine Distance and Azimuths Between 2 Sets of Coordinates Table of Lat/Long equivalents in km and miles Mt Vernon, George Washington's home, is located just south of the district. Washington inherited the property from his half-brother Lawrence who died in July 1752. The big house on the Arlington Cemetery property used to be called the Custis-Lee Mansion, as Civil War General Robert E. Lee had lived there with a grandaughter of Martha Custis who inherited the property when her husband died in 1757. She later married George Washington (1759). The hose was built by her grandson. Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello lies to the south and west of the district. Jefferson was a surveyor like Washington, but unlike GW, he was able to locate his house. He was President Washington's Secretary of State and was named to supervise the DC building project when that got under way. Land Surveying = df. the location or placement of objects on the earth. Location entails describing exactly where something is using some coordinate system. Placement utilizes a description to set a monument. Inertial guidance of rockets entails using the same methods to track and place them. Longitude lines run noth and south, while latitude lines run east and west. The equator is the longest latitude line, and all others are increasingly shorter. Latitude lines are parallel to one another, while longitude lines are only parallel at the equator as they meet at the poles. Below we see the data pertaining to long. and lat. lines at 40 degrees from the equator. The north stone of the District of Columbia is located at 39 north. Note that a degree of latitude (38 to 39 degrees) is a north south line, while a degree of longitude (77 to 78) is an east west line. At the location of DC a one by one unit is 69 by 53 miles. One tenth of a degree of latitude is about 7 miles there. The district is an oblique square with sides 10 miles long. Since a squared plus b sqaured equals c squared, and a here is equal to b, we can say that c squared equals 2 X a squared, or a squared is 1/2 c sqaured. Since c squared is 100, a is the sqrt of 50, or 7+ (7x7 = 49). The district is about 2 tenths of a degree 'tall'. The location of the north boundary stone has been determined to be 38.9959 degrees (38 59 45 , 15 seconds off of 39 degrees). Remember that the survey (layout) of the district boundary lines began at the southern tip, Jones Point at 38.79 degrees, then it proceeded north west to the west point, then north east to the north point. After 20 miles they were only off 1500 feet at 14 miles from their POB. The latitude of the west point, the WH and the east point are: 38.8933, 38.897, and 38.8928. That's 39, 38.9 and 38.8 degrees. The latitude at Mt Vernon is given as 38.7079 (38.7). That makes it just over 20 miles from Mt Vernon to the top point of the district. The latitude of Monticello is given as 38 00 30 (38.00833), half a second off the 38th parallel. We can presume that he was aiming at 38 degrees, just as the top of the district was aimed at 39 degrees. Reviewing we see that the Capitol is located at 77 degrees west, Monticello is at 78.5 west; and Monticello is at 38 degrees north while the north marker of the district is at 39 degrees. Also The White House is at 38.9, Jones Point is at 38.8 and Mt Vernon is located at 38.7. These numbers appear to suggest the involvement of Jeff and Wash, both. On August 18, Thomas Jefferson wrote L'Enfant asking if he or Ellicott wanted to prepare the map for an engraving and in that letter asked that the map be presented with the corner up, just as the district is. On page 35 of Sacred Geometry of Washington DC, Nicholas Mann suggests that it is Ellicott (the surveyor) who recommended 'the well known landmark at Jones Point' as the south position (thereby also placing the top point). Remember that Washington lived 7 miles south of here. Looking at the map you can see that Mt Vernon is at a similar landmark on the river. Mann says, "The result was that the corners of the ten mile square originally chosen by Washington and approved by Congress slid around to point north, south, east and west. In this way the ten mile square on the map gives the impression of being a diamond." I repeat, it is Nick Mann's assertion that Ellicott the surveyor chose the shape and orientation and placement of the District of Columbia after George Washingotn came up with the notion of a 10 by 10 square. I'm not buying it. Mann also recommends that there is no intentional pentagram in the map and that "It is unequivocably clear that L'Enfant intended to make the House of Congress the center of both the Federal District and of the United States". In his ill fated book "Sacred Geometry of Washington DC", Nicholas Mann suggests that just like ancient builders, L'Enfant designated the center first and then the boundary for the district. He recommends that the CB sits on the center he chose. The truth is that Ellicott and Bannekker had been working for weeks on cutting in the boundary lines when L'Enfant arrived in 1791. The layout of the boundary was begun by the placement of a stone marker at Jones Point, the south point of the district, a hand full of miles due north of Mt Vernon. The layout proceeded in a clockwise manner. It looks to me that Washington's intention was for the district corners and 16th St to align with some point on his plantation. After seeing L'Enfant's first draft of his plan, Washingon speaks to a group at Sutter's tavern on June 22, 1791 suggesting that the White House location would be moved to take advantage of higher ground (to the west). It is hard to see the Capitol as the 'center' of this scheme. We find that the diagonals of a square determine the center point of the district, and the Capitol is nowhere near there, AND there are other large monuments which are closer to that point. 16th Street is east of the center line and E Capitol Srteet is south of the east west center line. The point closest to the center is where 16th and E Capitol St's cross, the supposed intended location of the Washington Monument. Note that the map is symmetrical around 16th St, the main N/S axis, and E Cap St, the main E/W axis. There was to have been a monument where these two cross. The point is marked today by the Jefferson Pier. Even though the streets are numbered east and west starting at the CB, and lettered north and south beginning there, the Capitol can not really said to be the center of anything. N Capitol Street doesn't mark any monuments besides the CB. While it may not be at the exact center of the district, 16th street is the center of a 32 street wide zone between the Capitol in the east and Georgetown in the west. If I were going to lay this out, my first point would be the top of the triangle on 16th St. I would establish a north south line here, and mark the locations of Scott Circle, the White House, and the east /west axis for the CB. Next I would establish the bearing of New Hampshire Avenue, and locate DuPont and Washington Circles. Then the line on the opposite side and Logan Circle and Mt Vernon Square locations. Next I would move to Scott Circle (N Street) and check the bearings for Mass and Rhode Island Aves that cross there. The I would move to the WH location and repeat the process for NY and Penn Aves. Lastly I would move to the crossing point and locate the Capitol Building and Lincoln Square. Why last? Because they do not fall on any of the other lines established above. If we project the line from Georgetown through Washington Circle and the White House and on to the East Branch, we see that it meets the real Penn Ave there, but that from the WH to the CB to there, those lines don't match. The Capitol is north of wehere it should be for Penn Ave to be straight all the way. Projecting a line from the tip of the triangle through Logan Circle and Mt Vernon Sq shows you where the CB would need to be for the line to have been straight. As you can see, this causes Maryland Avenue, used to locate the Jeff Mml, to be bent too, as it reflects from the CB at the same angle as PA. The Jeff Mml is north of where it would be too. The Wash Mmt location was also 'compromised', as were the bearings of Virginia Avenue which locate it. If you look at a 1791 topo map you can see that the planned location fell on the steep side of Jenkins Heights, and it was moved north 600 feet (I estimate). The resulting acute angle is 19.5 degrees. Sine 19.47 = 0.3333. David Ovason makes his point one the CB location, where "either L'Enfant or Ellicott drew a line from the top of a wooded hillside, and directed it toward a specific point of sunset. From this single line the planner subtended another line which ran due west from the hill.. At a certain point along this second line, he drew across it, at right angles, a third. He extended this, so that it cut the first line - the sunset line. In this way, he formed a triangle on the earth." I would recommend that an astronomer/surveyor would strike the north south line first, the east west line second, and the diagonal third. Note that if this is your first point, you are charged with the task of figuring out where the bottom end of Pennsylvania meets the river, at the end of the line from Georgetown, then with building the rest of the map at different angles that your third angle. Notice that other than Maryland and PA, that angle is not used much in the map. The parallel lines are formed by connecting the points of the pentagram. In the developpment of the inner city we see that New Hampshire Avenue is extended to located a point in Arlington, and that from there Memorial Drive is directed to the Ellipse through the Lincoln Memorial at the same bearing as New York and Rhode Island Avenues. Below that we see that when the Pentagon Building was located, the front of the building was oriented at this bearing as well, and that it is located in a spot such that this line points to the ideal location of the CB. That bearing by the way is 66.5 degrees, the compliment of 23.5. 23.5 is the tropic and 66.5 is the artic circles. Also that is the location of the cross quarter sunsets, half way between the equinoxes and solstices. I believe that the CB is displaced, and that the mid section of PA is NOT the primary line in the map. I recommend that the primary diagonal line in the map is the section of PA between Gtown and the WH, and that the primary N/S line is 16th St, and the primary E/W line is N St through Scott Circle. New York Avenue is PA's twin, and runs to the NE from the WH rather than the NW. Below we see that a circle centered on the WH and drawn to the top of the triangle, locates the ideal position of the Jeff Mml, where 16th St crosses the line from the Pentagon. Some one name Cort Lindahl, using the name Geomantic Information Systems, suggests that the 'basal datum' as he calls it, was a point located at Rose Hill Estates, on the east side of the Potomac River, in Maryland. 38 30 43 N 77 01 30 W. And that the map was somehow built arond this point? He also suggest that Monticello was aligned to the Rose Hill house, so that the June solstice sunrise occurs over Rose Hill as seen from Monticello. Note that work on Monticello began in 1768 and Rose Hill was bought in 1780. At the location of Washington DC, the sun rises 31 degrees north of due east at the solstices. The line between Monticello and Rose Hill is on a bearing of 23.7 degrees north of due east. This is the position of the cross quarter sunrises and sets in DC, not the solstices Cort. Note that this matches the bearing of the pentagram grid. To see where the sun does rise on the June solstice as seen from Monticello, we plug in its coordinates and set the bearing for 59 degrees. As this brought me close to Mt Vernon, I messed with the numbers to see what I could find out. Mt Vernon is located near (depends on who yuo ask) 38 42 40 N and 77 05 12 W . "Starting at 38 0 00 N Latitude, 78 30 00 W Longitude (Point 1), and going 89.90 miles at 58.00� (referenced to True North), the endpoint coordinates are 38 40 52 N , 77 5 11 W (Point 2). Mt Vernon appears to be the solstice target. Looking along N Capitol St as it runs north from the CB, we notice that the diagonal NYA crosses it where N St does (an EW street). Projecting N Street back through Scott Circle to Georgetown, we locate the spot where it crosses the projected PA, 16 blocks west of the WH. Below we see PA, Mass Ave, Virginia Ave. depicted as straight lines at 113 degrees. When I first saw that the longitude of the CB was 77 00 32.6, I thought, huh, they missed by half a mile. That is until I looked at where 77 00 00 falls on the map. Below the diagonal avenues are shown as they are again (bent). Note the rhombus north of the WH. Note also that the three main nodes (where diagonal streets meet) in the map area are located at the WH, the CB and Lincoln Square. The long axis of this rhombus, from Washington Circle to Mt Vernon Square, is the same distance east/west as separates the WH and the CB, a mile and a half. Penn Ave meets N St in Georgetown, a mile and a half west of the WH. Inside the rhombus we see the top points of the pentagram quarter the length of that. The blue lines are depicting distances of 3/8, 3/4, 3/2, 3 etc miles. We see the same pattern used east of the CB too. Each vertical blue line indicates an east/west distance of 3/4 of a mile. As you can see PA terminates at the East Banch the same distance east of the CB that the WH is west of there (1.5 miles). Now look at that rhombus to the east of the CB, between it and Lincoln Square which is on East Capitol St. (Remember that if the CB had been further south so that PA was straight, E Cap St and Linc Sq would be further south too making the bend in Mass Ave worse.) The long axis of this rhombus (from CB to LSq) is one mile long. Purple lines in the east mark 1/2 mile east and west. Three purple sections equal two blue ones there. East and west, from where PA reaches the E Branch, to where it intersects N St in Georgetown is (theoretically) 4.5 miles. And 77 00 00 falls half way between the CB and Lincoln Square. The mile wide rhombus is centered on that longitude line. I recommend that the blue distance are correct, and that the only change that needed to be made was repositioning the CB. This of course entails moving E Cap St with Linc Sq, Maryland Ave and the Jeff Mml, Virginia Avenue and the Wash Mml, and New York Avenue (everything below the red rhombus). The image with the blue dots above shows the Jeff Mml and CB relocated. Here we see PA and Mass Ave extended straight in purple. The right side of the big triangle is extended indicating where the CB should be. Moving E Cap St south puts LSq at the other purple dot. As you can see, in order for Mass Ave to be straight then Linc Sq needs to be to the east. Washington meridian lines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Pier "Several Washington meridians have been recommended in the past. L'Enfant sugested that a meridian pass one mile east of the Capitol (through the center of the present Lincoln Park) that would be accompanied by a monument on East Capitol St (at Lincoln Square) from which miles (distances) would be measured in the US. The second was a meridian surveyed through the Capitol by Andrew Ellicott in 1793 at the direction of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson hoped that the United States would become scientifically as well as politically independent from Europe, so he desired that the new nation's capital city should contain a new "first meridian". In 1804, Jefferson requested a survey of a meridian through the President's House (now named the White House) while living in the house when serving as President. In 1890, a new monument, the Ellipse Meridian Stone, was placed by the Coast and Geodetic Survey in the center of the Ellipse in President's Park approximately 1506 feet (459 m) north of the Jefferson Pier but in a more protected area.[10] Theodolite measurements showed the new Ellipse Meridian Stone stood 26 inches (0.66 m) from the longtitudinal line of the replacement Jefferson Stone, indicating one of the two markers was improperly located. In 1920, Congress approved the placement of a new delineation stone on the Ellipse, the Zero Milestone, which is an itenarary marker from which official mileages from Washington would be determined. The new marker, a gift of the Lee Highway Association, was for some reason placed one foot west of the original meridian line extending north-south from the center of the White House." The old Naval Observatory, was the official reference for the prime U.S. meridian from September 28, 1850 until August 22, 1912 for astronomical observations only, i.e. mapping on land, etc. During all this time Greenwich was used for navigation. As chair of the International Geographic (or Meridian) Conference in 1884, the U.S. led the affirmative drive to make Greenwich the internationally accepted 0� or prime meridian through the Royal Greenwich Observatory on the outskirts of London. On the outskirts of London. That is zero degree doesn't lie in the middle of town. Note that even though Greenwich wasn't the announced prime meridian until 1884, it appears that most people in the US used it to navigate from for a long time. Consider the longitudes and latitudes of a few Americans cities . DC 77 W 39 N, Philadelphia 75 W 40 N, NYC 74 W 41 N, Boston 71 W 42 N, Charleston, SC 80 W 33 N. I want to take issue with a couple of statements that were made about the Washington, DC map. One is Nicholas Mann's assertion (page 132 Sacred Geometry) that L'Enfant's drawing was never meant for serious draftsmanship, only as a guide for the President. He estimates the overall accuracy as 20 yards per mile. 94 feet is the error at one mile for one degree, so 60 feet is 2/3 of a degree (40 minutes). The problem with this notion is that the purpose of the plan was to show exactly where everything was going to be, because the plan entailed selling lots to finance the project. The first auction was held in October of 1791 with no definitive map!! When L'Enfant was finally 'let go', it was because he would not provide a realistic map featuring lot numbers and street names. The fact is that the plan was to be used to determine 'lot corners', so it need to be accurate. I also would like to take issue with something that Chris Hodapp says (page 145 "Solomon's Builder's") suggesting that "it was actually left up to Ellicott to create a workable city from L'Enfant's drawings and notes". This is utter and total fiction. L'Enfant arrived on the scene in March and by June 22 had a working drawing of a plan ready for Washington. I say June 22 because Washington spoke to a crowd at Sutter's Tavern in Georgetown on that day, suggesting that there would be fewer diagoanls in the map. I call this the buisy plan. Note how you can see a pentagram, and the radical bend in Massacheusettts Ave. This is the version of the map produced by the Ellicott brothers in 1792. As you can see, it is much simplified as compared to the first map, and Mass Ave has been straightened. From this, people presume that one of the Ellicotts made the changes. Here we see what is called the dotted line map, that accompanied a letter from L'Enfant to Washington that was delivered to GW about Aug 19th, 1791. As you can see, Mass Ave is straightened in this map, and the pentagram is better defined. L'Enfant's letter speaks of this map as having been altered acccording to the President's wishes. The Ellicott's did not have to alter the map to create a workable city Chris. One more. On page 138 of "Sacred Geometry", Nick Mann suggest that after Andrew and Benjamin Ellicott were dismissed in 1794 and replaced by James Dermott, that the Dermott Appropriation Map became 'the legally recognized map of the city'. I challenge you to find a copy of that map. DC Symbols Home Page

A Surveyor's Washington, DC Notebook

I like to preface things that I write by stating that critique is half of what I do. I believe that half of an educators job is teaching the facts, and that the other half is exposing untruths. Here, critique entails taking a given premise that I know or believe to be wrong and showing just why it is that I believe as I do. This is something that I learned to do in graduate level philosophy of science classes for some years.
Take for instance the idea that there is not really a pentagram being depicted in the DC map plan. This argument runs from there is one but its accidental, if there is one its not intentional, there is not one, to its not really a pentagram because it is not complete.
I recommend that there is a pentagram in the map, that it consists of 5 crossing lines making 15 segements, and that leaving one segment out does not negate the figure, just as leaving off the right side of the triangle does not keep us from recognizing that. I suggest that the internal dimensions of the rhombus within the pentagram set the scale both n/s and e/w in the map. You will find that the map triangle has base angle of ~52 degrees like the Great Pyramid, that is it is not equilateral. The DC grid was generated by shortening the equilateral triangle and its diagonals.

My point is that I am presenting an idea based on a system built around the pentagram in the map that appears to describe the grid used there for the streets, and the only thing geometric that those people have to say is that there is not really a pentagram there. I repeat, not only are they not researching the DC map, there are impeeding serious research.

Premise from page 333 "Secret Architecture": "While there are indications that Washington did ride over the grounds looking at the land with a surveyor's eye, there is no indication that he was involved with the details of the design" (of Washington DC). This quote about Washington comes from a page where David Ovason is attempting to elevate the status of Andrew Ellicott the surveyor for the project. You will want to note that Ovason is not a fan of L'Enfant and takes every opportunity to put him down and build Ellicott up.
He rarely mentions Jefferson, dismisses Washington's part, and dengrates L'Enfant, leaving only Ellicott as the hero of his book. I repeat, he does not even consider Washington and Jefferson's roles in the planning of this event, but some how tries to make Ellicott out to be the real mind behind the plan (city) as we see it.
Remember that Ellicott was a surveyor, not an designer or builder like Jefferson and L'Enfant. He was brought in to layout the boundaries and streets, not to design the plan. When he took over from L'Enfant, it was only to complete the job of preparing a plate for engraving the map which included street names and lot numbers.

I intend to show here how the very position of the district appears to indicate just how involved Washington and Jefferson were with this project. I suggest to anyone who wants to do a serious study of the DC map, that they examine first where George Washington, Mrs. Custis, and Thomas Jefferson lived. Next take a look at how 16th Street (in red below), which centers on the White House and the Jefferson Memorial, projected straight down the Potomac River toward Washington's home.

If you look at the real numbers we see the longitude of Mt Vernon to be 77 05 12 and the longitude of 16th St is 77 02 12. That's 3 minutes difference. At Mt Vernon, you can't get much further east, because of the water. Both George Washington and Martha Custis, his wife, owned lots of land in the 100 square mile area that he chose for the location of the nation's new Capital (hundreds of acres). Mrs. Washington inherited what is now Arlington Cemetery (900 acres) when her husband died.

Above we see a map of Virginia. The red dot represents the location of Monticello, Th. Jefferson's home. I am highlighting a north/south line with a red rectangle that located DC and Mount Vernon, Geo. Washington's home. Below we see a closeup of the area in the rectangle.

Below we see Andrew Ellicott's 1793 map of the city of Washington, within the District of Columbia. As the longitude of the north boundary stone has been determined to be 77.041, and the longitude of the stone at Jones point (south) is 77.0398, we can presume that the intended number was 77.4 or 77 02 24. Looking at the longitude listed for the White House, we find it to be 77.03655 or 77 02 11.5.
The longitude listed for Mt Vernon is 77.0861, a little west of that line. As you can see below, 16th St is east of that line. You can see also that Capitol St through the Capitol is south of the east west line. By modern reckoning, the Capitol is located at 77.00983 W.

Looking at the longitude of the Capitol we see that is just west of 77 degrees. Looking the the longitude of Monticello we see that is is just about 78.5 degrees, a degree and a half west. Looking at the latitude of Monticello we see 38 degrees, and the north point of the district is at 39 degrees. A bearing of 45 degrees from Monticello brings you very close to the top point of the district. The first thing that Jefferson shows us is that a degree of latitude is very close to equaling a degree and a half of longitude at 38 degrees north.
I recommend that the plan was to form a 45 degree triangle with one side on 77 degrees longitude and one on 38 degrees latitude. This appears to suggest that Jefferson believed that one degree of latitude was equal to a degree and a half of longitude. That is the line running southwest from the north corner of the district boundary was intended to intersect Monticello.
While the longitude and latitude of Monticello are given as 38 00 30 and 78 27 12, we know that those are numbers for the house, which was positioned for the view, and that the point used for calculating bearings and distances was probably 38 and 78.5 degrees, which is no doubt on the property. If we check the bearing and distance from there to the location of the Jefferson Memorial (38 52 53 77 02 26) we find the bearing to be 51.91 degrees at a distance of 99.717 miles.
The base angle of the GP is 51_51 or 51.85 degrees.
Convert Degrees, Minutes, Seconds and Decimal Degrees Latitude/Longitude
Determine Distance and Azimuths Between 2 Sets of Coordinates
Table of Lat/Long equivalents in km and miles

Mt Vernon, George Washington's home, is located just south of the district. Washington inherited the property from his half-brother Lawrence who died in July 1752.

The big house on the Arlington Cemetery property used to be called the Custis-Lee Mansion, as Civil War General Robert E. Lee had lived there with a grandaughter of Martha Custis who inherited the property when her husband died in 1757. She later married George Washington (1759). The hose was built by her grandson.

Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello lies to the south and west of the district. Jefferson was a surveyor like Washington, but unlike GW, he was able to locate his house. He was President Washington's Secretary of State and was named to supervise the DC building project when that got under way.

Land Surveying = df. the location or placement of objects on the earth. Location entails describing exactly where something is using some coordinate system. Placement utilizes a description to set a monument. Inertial guidance of rockets entails using the same methods to track and place them.
Longitude lines run noth and south, while latitude lines run east and west. The equator is the longest latitude line, and all others are increasingly shorter. Latitude lines are parallel to one another, while longitude lines are only parallel at the equator as they meet at the poles. Below we see the data pertaining to long. and lat. lines at 40 degrees from the equator. The north stone of the District of Columbia is located at 39 north.

Note that a degree of latitude (38 to 39 degrees) is a north south line, while a degree of longitude (77 to 78) is an east west line. At the location of DC a one by one unit is 69 by 53 miles. One tenth of a degree of latitude is about 7 miles there.
The district is an oblique square with sides 10 miles long. Since a squared plus b sqaured equals c squared, and a here is equal to b, we can say that c squared equals 2 X a squared, or a squared is 1/2 c sqaured. Since c squared is 100, a is the sqrt of 50, or 7+ (7x7 = 49). The district is about 2 tenths of a degree 'tall'. The location of the north boundary stone has been determined to be 38.9959 degrees (38 59 45 , 15 seconds off of 39 degrees).

Remember that the survey (layout) of the district boundary lines began at the southern tip, Jones Point at 38.79 degrees, then it proceeded north west to the west point, then north east to the north point. After 20 miles they were only off 1500 feet at 14 miles from their POB. The latitude of the west point, the WH and the east point are: 38.8933, 38.897, and 38.8928. That's 39, 38.9 and 38.8 degrees.
The latitude at Mt Vernon is given as 38.7079 (38.7). That makes it just over 20 miles from Mt Vernon to the top point of the district. The latitude of Monticello is given as 38 00 30 (38.00833), half a second off the 38th parallel. We can presume that he was aiming at 38 degrees, just as the top of the district was aimed at 39 degrees.
Reviewing we see that the Capitol is located at 77 degrees west, Monticello is at 78.5 west; and Monticello is at 38 degrees north while the north marker of the district is at 39 degrees. Also The White House is at 38.9, Jones Point is at 38.8 and Mt Vernon is located at 38.7. These numbers appear to suggest the involvement of Jeff and Wash, both.
On August 18, Thomas Jefferson wrote L'Enfant asking if he or Ellicott wanted to prepare the map for an engraving and in that letter asked that the map be presented with the corner up, just as the district is. On page 35 of Sacred Geometry of Washington DC, Nicholas Mann suggests that it is Ellicott (the surveyor) who recommended 'the well known landmark at Jones Point' as the south position (thereby also placing the top point). Remember that Washington lived 7 miles south of here. Looking at the map you can see that Mt Vernon is at a similar landmark on the river.
Mann says, "The result was that the corners of the ten mile square originally chosen by Washington and approved by Congress slid around to point north, south, east and west. In this way the ten mile square on the map gives the impression of being a diamond." I repeat, it is Nick Mann's assertion that Ellicott the surveyor chose the shape and orientation and placement of the District of Columbia after George Washingotn came up with the notion of a 10 by 10 square. I'm not buying it.
Mann also recommends that there is no intentional pentagram in the map and that "It is unequivocably clear that L'Enfant intended to make the House of Congress the center of both the Federal District and of the United States".
In his ill fated book "Sacred Geometry of Washington DC", Nicholas Mann suggests that just like ancient builders, L'Enfant designated the center first and then the boundary for the district. He recommends that the CB sits on the center he chose. The truth is that Ellicott and Bannekker had been working for weeks on cutting in the boundary lines when L'Enfant arrived in 1791.
The layout of the boundary was begun by the placement of a stone marker at Jones Point, the south point of the district, a hand full of miles due north of Mt Vernon. The layout proceeded in a clockwise manner. It looks to me that Washington's intention was for the district corners and 16th St to align with some point on his plantation. After seeing L'Enfant's first draft of his plan, Washingon speaks to a group at Sutter's tavern on June 22, 1791 suggesting that the White House location would be moved to take advantage of higher ground (to the west).
It is hard to see the Capitol as the 'center' of this scheme. We find that the diagonals of a square determine the center point of the district, and the Capitol is nowhere near there, AND there are other large monuments which are closer to that point.
16th Street is east of the center line and E Capitol Srteet is south of the east west center line. The point closest to the center is where 16th and E Capitol St's cross, the supposed intended location of the Washington Monument. Note that the map is symmetrical around 16th St, the main N/S axis, and E Cap St, the main E/W axis. There was to have been a monument where these two cross. The point is marked today by the Jefferson Pier.

Even though the streets are numbered east and west starting at the CB, and lettered north and south beginning there, the Capitol can not really said to be the center of anything. N Capitol Street doesn't mark any monuments besides the CB. While it may not be at the exact center of the district, 16th street is the center of a 32 street wide zone between the Capitol in the east and Georgetown in the west.

If I were going to lay this out, my first point would be the top of the triangle on 16th St. I would establish a north south line here, and mark the locations of Scott Circle, the White House, and the east /west axis for the CB. Next I would establish the bearing of New Hampshire Avenue, and locate DuPont and Washington Circles. Then the line on the opposite side and Logan Circle and Mt Vernon Square locations.
Next I would move to Scott Circle (N Street) and check the bearings for Mass and Rhode Island Aves that cross there. The I would move to the WH location and repeat the process for NY and Penn Aves. Lastly I would move to the crossing point and locate the Capitol Building and Lincoln Square. Why last? Because they do not fall on any of the other lines established above.
If we project the line from Georgetown through Washington Circle and the White House and on to the East Branch, we see that it meets the real Penn Ave there, but that from the WH to the CB to there, those lines don't match. The Capitol is north of wehere it should be for Penn Ave to be straight all the way. Projecting a line from the tip of the triangle through Logan Circle and Mt Vernon Sq shows you where the CB would need to be for the line to have been straight.
As you can see, this causes Maryland Avenue, used to locate the Jeff Mml, to be bent too, as it reflects from the CB at the same angle as PA. The Jeff Mml is north of where it would be too. The Wash Mmt location was also 'compromised', as were the bearings of Virginia Avenue which locate it. If you look at a 1791 topo map you can see that the planned location fell on the steep side of Jenkins Heights, and it was moved north 600 feet (I estimate). The resulting acute angle is 19.5 degrees. Sine 19.47 = 0.3333.

David Ovason makes his point one the CB location, where "either L'Enfant or Ellicott drew a line from the top of a wooded hillside, and directed it toward a specific point of sunset. From this single line the planner subtended another line which ran due west from the hill.. At a certain point along this second line, he drew across it, at right angles, a third. He extended this, so that it cut the first line - the sunset line. In this way, he formed a triangle on the earth."
I would recommend that an astronomer/surveyor would strike the north south line first, the east west line second, and the diagonal third. Note that if this is your first point, you are charged with the task of figuring out where the bottom end of Pennsylvania meets the river, at the end of the line from Georgetown, then with building the rest of the map at different angles that your third angle. Notice that other than Maryland and PA, that angle is not used much in the map.
The parallel lines are formed by connecting the points of the pentagram. In the developpment of the inner city we see that New Hampshire Avenue is extended to located a point in Arlington, and that from there Memorial Drive is directed to the Ellipse through the Lincoln Memorial at the same bearing as New York and Rhode Island Avenues.
Below that we see that when the Pentagon Building was located, the front of the building was oriented at this bearing as well, and that it is located in a spot such that this line points to the ideal location of the CB. That bearing by the way is 66.5 degrees, the compliment of 23.5. 23.5 is the tropic and 66.5 is the artic circles. Also that is the location of the cross quarter sunsets, half way between the equinoxes and solstices.
I believe that the CB is displaced, and that the mid section of PA is NOT the primary line in the map. I recommend that the primary diagonal line in the map is the section of PA between Gtown and the WH, and that the primary N/S line is 16th St, and the primary E/W line is N St through Scott Circle. New York Avenue is PA's twin, and runs to the NE from the WH rather than the NW.
Below we see that a circle centered on the WH and drawn to the top of the triangle, locates the ideal position of the Jeff Mml, where 16th St crosses the line from the Pentagon.

Some one name Cort Lindahl, using the name Geomantic Information Systems, suggests that the 'basal datum' as he calls it, was a point located at Rose Hill Estates, on the east side of the Potomac River, in Maryland. 38 30 43 N 77 01 30 W. And that the map was somehow built arond this point? He also suggest that Monticello was aligned to the Rose Hill house, so that the June solstice sunrise occurs over Rose Hill as seen from Monticello. Note that work on Monticello began in 1768 and Rose Hill was bought in 1780.
At the location of Washington DC, the sun rises 31 degrees north of due east at the solstices. The line between Monticello and Rose Hill is on a bearing of 23.7 degrees north of due east. This is the position of the cross quarter sunrises and sets in DC, not the solstices Cort. Note that this matches the bearing of the pentagram grid.
To see where the sun does rise on the June solstice as seen from Monticello, we plug in its coordinates and set the bearing for 59 degrees. As this brought me close to Mt Vernon, I messed with the numbers to see what I could find out. Mt Vernon is located near (depends on who yuo ask) 38 42 40 N and 77 05 12 W . "Starting at 38 0 00 N Latitude, 78 30 00 W Longitude (Point 1), and going 89.90 miles at 58.00� (referenced to True North), the endpoint coordinates are 38 40 52 N , 77 5 11 W (Point 2). Mt Vernon appears to be the solstice target.
Looking along N Capitol St as it runs north from the CB, we notice that the diagonal NYA crosses it where N St does (an EW street). Projecting N Street back through Scott Circle to Georgetown, we locate the spot where it crosses the projected PA, 16 blocks west of the WH. Below we see PA, Mass Ave, Virginia Ave. depicted as straight lines at 113 degrees.

When I first saw that the longitude of the CB was 77 00 32.6, I thought, huh, they missed by half a mile. That is until I looked at where 77 00 00 falls on the map. Below the diagonal avenues are shown as they are again (bent). Note the rhombus north of the WH. Note also that the three main nodes (where diagonal streets meet) in the map area are located at the WH, the CB and Lincoln Square.

The long axis of this rhombus, from Washington Circle to Mt Vernon Square, is the same distance east/west as separates the WH and the CB, a mile and a half. Penn Ave meets N St in Georgetown, a mile and a half west of the WH. Inside the rhombus we see the top points of the pentagram quarter the length of that. The blue lines are depicting distances of 3/8, 3/4, 3/2, 3 etc miles.
We see the same pattern used east of the CB too. Each vertical blue line indicates an east/west distance of 3/4 of a mile. As you can see PA terminates at the East Banch the same distance east of the CB that the WH is west of there (1.5 miles).
Now look at that rhombus to the east of the CB, between it and Lincoln Square which is on East Capitol St. (Remember that if the CB had been further south so that PA was straight, E Cap St and Linc Sq would be further south too making the bend in Mass Ave worse.) The long axis of this rhombus (from CB to LSq) is one mile long.

Purple lines in the east mark 1/2 mile east and west. Three purple sections equal two blue ones there. East and west, from where PA reaches the E Branch, to where it intersects N St in Georgetown is (theoretically) 4.5 miles. And 77 00 00 falls half way between the CB and Lincoln Square. The mile wide rhombus is centered on that longitude line.
I recommend that the blue distance are correct, and that the only change that needed to be made was repositioning the CB. This of course entails moving E Cap St with Linc Sq, Maryland Ave and the Jeff Mml, Virginia Avenue and the Wash Mml, and New York Avenue (everything below the red rhombus). The image with the blue dots above shows the Jeff Mml and CB relocated.

Here we see PA and Mass Ave extended straight in purple. The right side of the big triangle is extended indicating where the CB should be. Moving E Cap St south puts LSq at the other purple dot. As you can see, in order for Mass Ave to be straight then Linc Sq needs to be to the east.

Washington meridian lines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Pier
"Several Washington meridians have been recommended in the past. L'Enfant sugested that a meridian pass one mile east of the Capitol (through the center of the present Lincoln Park) that would be accompanied by a monument on East Capitol St (at Lincoln Square) from which miles (distances) would be measured in the US. The second was a meridian surveyed through the Capitol by Andrew Ellicott in 1793 at the direction of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson hoped that the United States would become scientifically as well as politically independent from Europe, so he desired that the new nation's capital city should contain a new "first meridian". In 1804, Jefferson requested a survey of a meridian through the President's House (now named the White House) while living in the house when serving as President.
In 1890, a new monument, the Ellipse Meridian Stone, was placed by the Coast and Geodetic Survey in the center of the Ellipse in President's Park approximately 1506 feet (459 m) north of the Jefferson Pier but in a more protected area.[10] Theodolite measurements showed the new Ellipse Meridian Stone stood 26 inches (0.66 m) from the longtitudinal line of the replacement Jefferson Stone, indicating one of the two markers was improperly located.
In 1920, Congress approved the placement of a new delineation stone on the Ellipse, the Zero Milestone, which is an itenarary marker from which official mileages from Washington would be determined. The new marker, a gift of the Lee Highway Association, was for some reason placed one foot west of the original meridian line extending north-south from the center of the White House."
The old Naval Observatory, was the official reference for the prime U.S. meridian from September 28, 1850 until August 22, 1912 for astronomical observations only, i.e. mapping on land, etc. During all this time Greenwich was used for navigation. As chair of the International Geographic (or Meridian) Conference in 1884, the U.S. led the affirmative drive to make Greenwich the internationally accepted 0� or prime meridian through the Royal Greenwich Observatory on the outskirts of London.
On the outskirts of London. That is zero degree doesn't lie in the middle of town. Note that even though Greenwich wasn't the announced prime meridian until 1884, it appears that most people in the US used it to navigate from for a long time. Consider the longitudes and latitudes of a few Americans cities . DC 77 W 39 N, Philadelphia 75 W 40 N, NYC 74 W 41 N, Boston 71 W 42 N, Charleston, SC 80 W 33 N.

I want to take issue with a couple of statements that were made about the Washington, DC map. One is Nicholas Mann's assertion (page 132 Sacred Geometry) that L'Enfant's drawing was never meant for serious draftsmanship, only as a guide for the President. He estimates the overall accuracy as 20 yards per mile. 94 feet is the error at one mile for one degree, so 60 feet is 2/3 of a degree (40 minutes).
The problem with this notion is that the purpose of the plan was to show exactly where everything was going to be, because the plan entailed selling lots to finance the project. The first auction was held in October of 1791 with no definitive map!! When L'Enfant was finally 'let go', it was because he would not provide a realistic map featuring lot numbers and street names. The fact is that the plan was to be used to determine 'lot corners', so it need to be accurate.
I also would like to take issue with something that Chris Hodapp says (page 145 "Solomon's Builder's") suggesting that "it was actually left up to Ellicott to create a workable city from L'Enfant's drawings and notes". This is utter and total fiction.
L'Enfant arrived on the scene in March and by June 22 had a working drawing of a plan ready for Washington. I say June 22 because Washington spoke to a crowd at Sutter's Tavern in Georgetown on that day, suggesting that there would be fewer diagoanls in the map. I call this the buisy plan. Note how you can see a pentagram, and the radical bend in Massacheusettts Ave.
This is the version of the map produced by the Ellicott brothers in 1792. As you can see, it is much simplified as compared to the first map, and Mass Ave has been straightened. From this, people presume that one of the Ellicotts made the changes.
Here we see what is called the dotted line map, that accompanied a letter from L'Enfant to Washington that was delivered to GW about Aug 19th, 1791. As you can see, Mass Ave is straightened in this map, and the pentagram is better defined. L'Enfant's letter speaks of this map as having been altered acccording to the President's wishes. The Ellicott's did not have to alter the map to create a workable city Chris.
One more. On page 138 of "Sacred Geometry", Nick Mann suggest that after Andrew and Benjamin Ellicott were dismissed in 1794 and replaced by James Dermott, that the Dermott Appropriation Map became 'the legally recognized map of the city'. I challenge you to find a copy of that map.

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