By Dan Tortorice
Friends of Lake View Hill Park
We live in a time when we can establish our exact position on earth by simply turning on our phones, but we know this wasn’t always true. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey placed permanent markers across our country to mark “true ground,” an exact spot of latitude, longitude and elevation. These are reference points for surveying, map making and establishing accurate property lines.
The markers in LVHP were probably a triangulation station, which is why there are at least three of them. We located two recently, and they are marked with white and orange stakes. You can see their approximate location from the photo on this page. These stations were often placed on summits, which explains why they are in our park.
The principle of triangulation was developed by the Greek mathematician Thales in the sixth century B.C.E. It may have been used by ancient Egyptians as well.
The marker pictured here has an arrow on it that points to the main triangulation spot nearby. It is dated 1958, a time of explosive growth on Madison’s Northside.
