#4: [13-Aug-22]

#3: [15-Sep-12]

#2: [27-Oct-05]

#1: [26-Mar-00]

08-Jun-2024 -- As I had just completed the University consortium for Geographic Information Sciences symposium at The Ohio State University, and as the focus was on the Earth, climate, education, and geotechnologies, a confluence visit seemed like the perfect capstone. Plus, eastern Ohio is where the public land survey system for the USA began, as detailed in Linklater's book entitled The Measuring of America. I highly recommend reading this book.

Hence the morning after the conference ended saw me aiming eastward from Columbus, toward 40 North 82 West. I needed to eventually head southwest to the Geotech Center Community College GIS conference, but this was, to a geographer, a slight detour, albeit in the opposite direction. A hour after leaving Columbus, I departed I-70 and headed north at the lovely community of Zanesville, and then I continued northeast on Dresden Road through North Zanesville. An added treat for me as a geographer is that Ohio is one of the small-ish number of states where the state outline shape is used as the highway shield. I passed a park with a gazebo that I made a note to visit after the confluence visit as I love gazebos. I left this main road and drove slowly through a peaceful set of homes set on winding streets. It was a picture perfect Saturday morning. About 3 blocks from the property where the confluence lay, I pulled over, even though there was virtually no room to do so, careful not to block any driveways of the landowners. I walked about 7 minutes northeast on Skyline Drive to the property where the confluence lay.

Once at the property, I filmed at the base of the driveway in all directions. Should I knock on the house door ? It was still pretty early. I decided to dash up the driveway to zero out the unit. I was able to zero out the GPS unit and there was much rejoicing with accompanied feelings of centered-ness. I do use this project frequently to teach students about biomes, ecoregions, climate, population density, geomorphology, water, language, and other aspects of the physical and cultural environment.

Thus the confluence point lies on land sloping down a driveway off to the east. The land use here was all suburban small town - lawns, gardens, and homes. It was a lovely early morning in late spring, the temperature about 75° F (24 C). As always on these treks, I thought about the indigenous population, roaming these hills for centuries, and the settlers, and have great respect for all who live, farm, and take care of the land including this landowner. I also thought about David McCullough's magnificent book entitled The Pioneers, about the original settlement of Ohio which took place not far from here, to the south, over 200 years ago, and I highly recommend that book as well.

Having visited this point, I was close to having a long nearly-unbroken stretch from east to west, across 40° north; with only a few short breaks, all the way from New Jersey, into Pennsylvania, across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, all the way to Kansas and Nebraska with many more points in Colorado and even into the Sierra Nevada of California. I only had to visit 40 N 81 W to complete a long string, which I intended to visit later on this same day. I also have stood on 82° west many times from here in Ohio on south all the way to Florida with a few unvisited points in between. Over the past 25 years, I have visited most of the points in Ohio by now, including most the points along 40 North; I am only missing a few points in the entire state. I took pictures and filmed this video: 40 North Latitude 82 West Longitude. I saw no people out in the neighborhood and fortunately no roaming dogs as admittedly it was early.

I walked back the way I had come in. It is always bittersweet to leave, knowing I would not be back, but I did have a peaceful stop at the gazebo to the south before heading east to 40 North 81 West.

Get out there and explore the world!