Washington County, MAINE - 45° North Latitude Marker - Equator / Pole

Washington County, MAINE - 45° North Latitude Marker - Equator / Pole: The 45th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 45 degrees north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 45th parallel north is often called the halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole, but the true halfway point is actually 16.2 km (10.1 mi) north of the 45th parallel because Earth is an oblate spheroid; that is, it bulges at the equator and is flattened at the poles. The 45th Parallel is way older than America, but it wasn't until July 4, 1899, that Americans erected a monument to acknowledge its existence. The monument is hunk of pink granite, now worn and stained with age, surrounded by picnic tables in a small rest area on US 1, north of the town of Perry, Maine. This is about as far east as it's possible to get in America. Engraved on it are the words, "This stone marks latitude 45 degrees north, halfway from the equator to the pole." The monument cost a reported $8, and in fact it sat in a barn for three years before someone remembered to put it up. This White Border Era (1915-30) postcard is in good condition. Published by Luther S. Phillips. Bangor, Me. No. 1031.

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