3. Eight buoys or spindles, to be marked like the permanent monument above mentioned, and placed at suitable intervening points along the line from the said permanent monument to the "Romer stone beacon."

4. The "Romer stone beacon."

In 1774 commissions were appointed by New York and Pennsylvania to fix the "beginning of the 43d degree" of north latitude (the 42d parallel) on the Mohawk or western branch of the Delaware River, which is the northeast corner of Pennsylvania, and to proceed westward and fix the line between Pennsylvania and New York. These commissioners reported in December of the same year that they had fixed the northeast corner of Pennsylvania and marked it as follows: 83

in a small Island marked B in the Draught planted a Stone with the Letters NEW-YORK, 1774 Cut on one side and on the Top LAT. 42° VAR. 4° 20′. Thence due West on the West side of Delaware River, We collected a Heap of • Stones at High Water mark and in the said West line 4 Perches distant, planted another Stone as at C with the Letters PENNSYLVANIA 1774 Cut on the South side and on Top Lat. 42° Var. 4° 20′ and from thence due West 18 P. marked an Ash Tree. But the rigour of the Season prevented us from proceeding further.

Nothing further seems to have been done until 1786-87, when commissioners were appointed to finish the work thus begun, and the lines were run and monuments erected. The line was ratified by Pennsylvania in 1789, but no action was taken by the New York Legislature until the adoption of the revised statutes in 1829. The line is described as follows: 84

A meridian line drawn through the most westerly bent or inclination of Lake Ontario; then south along said meridian line to a monument in the beginning of the forty-third degree of north latitude [on the forty-second parallel], erected in the year 1787, by Abraham Hardenburgh and William W. Morris, commissioners on the part of this state, and Andrew Ellicott and Andrew Porter, commissioners on the part of the state of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of marking the termination of the line of jurisdiction between this state and the said state of Pennsylvania; then east along the line established and marked by said last mentioned commissioners to the ninetieth milestone in the same parallel of latitude, erected in the year 1786, by James Clinton and Simon DeWitt, commissioners on the part of this State, and Andrew Ellicott, commissioner on the part of Pennsylvania; which said ninetieth milestone stands on the western side of the south branch of the Tioga River; then east along the line established and marked by said last-mentioned commissioners, to a stone erected in the year 1774, on a small island in the Delaware river, by Samuel Holland and David Rittenhouse, commissioners on the part of the colonies of New York and Pennsylvania, for the purpose of marking the beginning of the forty-third degree of north latitude; then down along said Delaware river to a point opposite to the fork or branch formed

83 Pennsylvania Sec. Internal Affairs Rept. for 1887, p. 495, Harrisburg, 1887.

84 Pennsylvania Stat. L., vol. 13, pp. 378-379, Harrisburg, Mitchell & Flanders, 1908; New York Rev. Stat., vol. 1, p. 130, Albany, Banks & Bros., 1882.

by the junction of the stream called Mahackamack with the said Delaware river, in the latitude of 41° 21′ 37′′ north; then in a straight line to the termination, on the east bank of the Delaware river of a line run in the year 1774, by William Wickham and Samuel Gale, commissioners on the part of the then colony of New York, and John Stevens and Walter Rutherford, commissioners on the part of the then colony of New Jersey.

The meridian line forming part of the west boundary of New York was surveyed and marked in 1790 by Andrew Ellicott. In order to fix the initial point for this line, Ellicott ran a traverse line from the west end of Lake Ontario along the lake shore to the Niagara River, up and across that river, thence southwest along the south shore of Lake Erie to the computed longitude of the starting point. The notes of this survey have been lost.85 The total length of the meridian line from a stone post set on the shore of Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania north line was later found to be 98,525 feet. In 1869 a large granite monument was set at a point 440 feet south of the lake-shore mark.86 (See pl. 3, C.) The latitude of this point is 42° 15′ 58.4'', and the longitude 79° 45′ 44.9".

In 1877 the true position of the 42d parallel was ascertained at four points and in 1879 at nine other points. The distances from the four points to the boundary line were found to be:

1. At Travis Station (Hale's Eddy), very near the east end of that part of the New York and Pennsylvania line supposed to be on the 42d parallel, the old line was found to be 275 feet north of the parallel.

2. At Finn's Station (Great Bend), about 20 miles from the east end, the line is 350 feet south of the parallel.

3. At Burt's Station (Wellsburg), about 70 miles from the east end, the line is 760 feet north of the parallel.

4. At Clark's Station, nearly 225 miles from the east end, the line is 150 feet north of the parallel.87

The calculated latitude of the southwest corner of New York is 42° 00′ 01.42", or very nearly 144 feet north of the true parallel, and its approximate longitude is 79° 45′ 45′′.

The New York-Pennsylvania boundary line was resurveyed in whole or in part in 1877-1879; between 1881 and 1885 all missing marks were replaced with granite posts. There are now 519 stone monuments on the 42d parallel line, 224 of which are milestones. There are 18 milestones and 32 other marks on the meridian boundary. The marks between milestones on these lines are mostly at

85 Report of the Regents of the University on the boundaries of the State of New York, vol. 1, p. 324, 1874.

8 See Pennsylvania Sec. Internal Affairs Rept. for 1893, p. 133A, for description.

87 For positions of other points see Report of the Regents' Boundary Commission upon the New York and Pennsylvania boundary, with final report of the surveyor for the Commission: New York S. Doc. 71, 1886, pp. 271-279.

county corners and highway crossings.88 These boundaries as now located were confirmed by Congressional act of August 19, 1890,89 which contains a brief history of the lines.

In order that the transportation and terminal facilities in the area including New York City and the adjacent part of New Jersey might be systematically developed, the legislatures of the two States in 1921 created a Port of New York District, within which three commissioners from each State should constitute a Port of New York Authority for the preparation of plans for tunnels, bridges, railways, etc., which, when approved by the States, should be constructed under their supervision. This compact by the States was approved by Congress August 23, 1921,89 and the general plans prepared by the commissioners were approved by the State legislature and Congress in 1922.89b The Port of New York District is irregular in outline. It includes near its borders parts or all of Paterson, Summit, Plainfield, New Brunswick, and Sandy Hook, N. J., and Rockaway Beach, Jamaica, Rye, and White Plains, N. Y., and covers a total area of about 1,540 square miles.

NEW JERSEY

Although the original grant of 1606 from the English sovereign covered the territory forming the present State of New Jersey, the first grant that directly related to New Jersey was that given in. 1664 to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, by the Duke of York, two months before the setting out of his expedition to take possession of New York. The following extract from that grant defines the boundaries: 90

all that tract of land adjacent to New England, and lying and being to the westward of Long Island and Manhitas Island, and bounded on the east part by the main sea and part by Hudson's river, and hath upon the west Delaware bay or river, and extended southward to the main ocean as far as Cape May, at the mouth of the Delaware bay, and to the northward as far as the northermost branch of the said bay or river of Delaware, which is forty-one degrees and forty minutes of latitude," and crosseth over thence in a straight line to Hudson's river, in forty-one degree of latitude; which said tract of land is hereafter to be called by the name or names of New Caeserea or New Jersey.

For a description of each mark see Pennsylvania Sec. Internal Affairs Ann. Rept. for 1893, pp. 49A-134A.

89 26 Stat. L. 329. For references to Pennsylvania-New York boundary surveys and marks see Cary and Riorden, Laws of Pennsylvania, vol. 3, p. 392, and Reports of the Regents of the University of the State of New York: New York S. Doc. 108 for 1873, Assembly Doc. 91 for 1879, Assembly Doc. 49 for 1870, Assembly Doc. 100 for 1880, S. Doc. 20 for 1882, S. Doc. 71 for 1886, 26 Stat. L. 333, etc. On page 258 of S. Doc. 71, 1886, there is a description of the southwest corner of New York.

8 42 Stat. L. 174.

89b 42 Stat. L. 822.

Thorpe, F. N., op. cit., vol. 5, p. 2534.

This point, now called the Tri-State Rock, has since been found to be at latitude 41° 21′ 22.6" and longitude 74° 41′ 40.7".

*

In March, 1673, Lord Berkeley sold his undivided moiety of New Jersey to John Fenwick, by whom, in the following year, it was again sold. On July 1, 1676, was executed the famous "Quintipartite deed" by which the eastern part was given to Sir George Carteret, to be called east New Jersey, and the western part to William Penn and 11 other proprietors, to be called west New Jersey. The dividing line between the two parts as described in the act of March 27, 1719, was a straight line from the northwest corner of the province, on the Delaware River, to the most southerly point of an "island of sand * known by the name of Little Egg Harbour." Sir George Carteret, at his death in 1678, left his land to be sold. It was sold in 1682 to the 12 proprietors of west New Jersey, who admitted other partners. Confirmation grants were made to the proprietors of both Provinces by the Duke of York and confirmed by the King, but between 1697 and 1701 the proprietors repeatedly made petitions to be allowed to surrender their right of government to the Crown. In 1702 the surrender was made and was accepted by Queen Anne, and the two parts were united and made the province of New Jersey.92

For the history of the northern and eastern boundaries see New York, pages 109–113.

The grant from the Duke of York to Berkeley and Carteret defined the west boundary of New Jersey to be the Delaware River (see above).

The line between New Jersey and Delaware is thus described: 95 Low-water mark on the eastern side of the river Delaware, within the twelvemile circle from New Castle; and the middle of the bay below said circle. In 1876 the Legislature of New Jersey authorized the governor to commence a suit in the Supreme Court of the United States to settle the boundary between New Jersey and Delaware.94 New Jersey claimed jurisdiction and title to the middle of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay within the 12-mile circle, while Delaware claimed the area to the low-water mark on the east shore. The suit commenced under this act was "dismissed without prejudice" in April,

1917.95

Meanwhile the questions of jurisdiction and ownership of the tract had been under discussion by commissioners representing the two States, who in 1905 entered into a compact providing for concurrent jurisdiction over the disputed area, but they could not agree on the

See New Jersey State Geologist Final Rept., vol. 1, p. 89, Trenton, 1888. The name "Province of New Jersey' was later changed to "colony of New Jersey," and by act of Sept. 20, 1777, to State of New Jersey."

9 Revised Statutes of Delaware, ch. 1, sec. 2, Wilmington, 1874.

94 Laws of the State of New Jersey, p. 57, Trenton, 1821.

205 U. S. 550.

proper location of the boundary line. This compact was ratified by the legislatures and approved by Congress by act of January 24, 1907. Suit was again entered in the Supreme Court at its October term, 1929, in an attempt to obtain a final settlement of this long-standing controversy. New Jersey's bill of complaint and Delaware's answer contain considerable historical matter relating to the two States. The adverse claims to the area in question were reviewed at great length in Senate Executive Document 21, Thirtieth Congress, first session, published in 1848. Although the total area involved is only about 22 square miles it includes valuable oyster beds and is, therefore, of importance to New Jersey.

96

Commissioners were appointed by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to settle the jurisdiction over the Delaware River and the islands within it, and their report, ratified in 1783, is in part as follows: First. It is declared that the river Delaware from the station point or northwest corner of New Jersey, northerly to the place upon the said river where the circular boundary of the State of Delaware toucheth upon the same, in the whole length and breadth thereof, is and shall continue to be and remain a common highway, equally free and open for the use, benefit, and advantage of the said contracting parties, etc.

Secondly. That each State shall enjoy and exercise a concurrent jurisdiction, within and upon the water, and not upon the dry land between the shores of said river.

The rule for apportioning the islands was that they should be assigned to the State

to which such insulated dry land doth lie nearest, at the time of making and executing this agreement; and that all other islands within said river between the falls of Trenton and the State of Delaware, which are not hereinafter particularly enumerated, shall be hereafter deemed and considered as parts and parcels of the State, to which such island doth lie nearest at the date hereof; * islands hereafter formed * * * shall be classed and annexed according to the same principal.

The islands between the falls of Trenton and the Delaware line were divided as follows: Biles Island near Trenton; Windmill Island, opposite Philadelphia; League Island, Mud or Fort Island, Hog Island, and Little Tinicum Island were assigned to Pennsylvania. To New Jersey were given Biddles or Newbolds, Burlington, Pettys, Red Bank, Harmanus, Helms, Chester, and Shiverses Islands.98

In 1786 other commissioners were appointed by New Jersey and Pennsylvania for more accurately determining and describing the islands in the Delaware from the northwest corner of New Jersey down to the falls of Trenton. Their report was ratified and con

Revision of the Statutes of New Jersey, pp. 1181-1182, Trenton, 1877.

This is a mistake. The line runs south.