Louisiana Purchase

As a Throwback Thursday here is a place I visited quite a while ago.  We were in Arkansas visiting Arkansas Post when we saw the sign for this and thought it would be interesting. 

A walk along a boardwalk into the swamp....

reveals that in 1815 this spot was used as the survey starting point.  So basically all spots in the West, either gained through the Louisiana Purchase or later, could trace thier longitude and latitude to this spot.

And surveying at the time was done by line of sight so they had to cut that path through the cypress swamp to start this coordinate line.

Of course there is a monument marking the starting point

 

Louisiana Purchase park is a little gem that I would highly recommend for others to visit.