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I just got back from a 5 day hiking trip to the Boundary Range - the ridge line that forms the border between the US and Canada along New Hampshire and western Maine. The area is very remote and the only passage in most parts of the area is over dirt logging roads. I drove up Wednesday and crossed over to Woburn Quebec which is a few miles past the Coburn Gore Maine border crossing, where US Route 27 crosses into Canada. I hiked Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday from the Canadian side and then Friday night crossed into Pittsburg New Hampshire where US Route 3 terminates. Saturday morning I was met by a friend and spent Saturday and Sunday morning hiking from the US side. This station is a boundary monument that we accessed from East Inlet Road in Pittsburg New Hampshire. We drove in on this dirt logging road about 13 miles towards Rhubarb Pond and had to walk the last mile and cross a beaver dam at the outlet of the pond. With map and compass we headed for a saddle on the border ridge at Monument 476. We arrived in about half an hour only slightly east of that point, and then headed east to monument 475, about a half mile away. Monument 475 is very special. It not only marks the international border but it also marks the tri-point intersection of the borders of Maine, New Hampshire and Quebec. The point was historically known as the "Crown Monument" and the Webster-Ashburton treaty of 1842, which defined the exact location of the international boundary line, refers to it in the laying out of the border along the northern edge of New Hampshire: "Commencing at the 'Crown Monument,' . . . thence by an irregular line along the divide to the head of Halls Stream . . . " The original Crown Monument was probably destroyed when Monument 475 was erected in 1845, but in 1858 the states of Maine and New Hampshire resurveyed the boundary and placed a stone monument directly in front of Monument 475, on the US side, to demarcate the state boundary. I had seen a picture of this stone in front of 475 taken in 1993 on the web (The Corner Corner), but another shot taken after the 1993 rebuilding of Monument 475 did not seem to show it. When we arrived, there was no state boundary marker in evidence. There was grass on all sides of the concrete base of 475 (and the post was a granite replacement set in 1993 of the original iron post). But I got out my tools anyhow, and started digging and cutting through the thick roots on the US side, right in the middle. After going through about 3 inches of tough grass roots and dirt, I hit pay-dirt. Or I should say I hit pay-granite. Something hard and flat was down there. Pierre and I spent about 20 minutes digging and pulling on the mat of grass roots and finally uncovered the monument. The 1858 stone monument saw the light of day again! I have since learned that when the IBC rebuilt Monument 475 in 1993, they preserved the stone in it's original position. To quote from the IBC: The rock was found in good condition at that time and left in the original position at the south side of Monument 475, but buried under two inches of soil. See the pictures for the details of what it all looks like. Note: the 1:24000 USGS map of the area (Moose Bog quadrangle, 1989) incorrectly depicts the location of Monument 475. It is at the tri-point boundary intersection, not several hundred hards to the east as shown on the USGS map. Logged as "recovered in good condition" with the NGS on 8/29/2006.
[This entry was edited by Papa-Bear-NYC on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 1:47:21 PM.]
Photos:
 QH0502 "MON 475 IBC", Tri-point NH-ME-Quebec
Monument 475, showing grass on all sides. This monument not only marks the Tr-point of the NH-ME-Quebec boundaries, but it is the westernmost point of the state of Maine.
QH0502 "MON 475 IBC", Tri-point NH-ME-Quebec
Monument 475 and the 1858 State Boundary Monument after digging.
1858 ME-NH State Boundary Monument, Tri-point NH-M
The 1858 State Boundary Monument showing the initials for the two states and the line demarcating the boundary.
Northernmost point of New Hampshire,near Tri-point
About 200 yards northwest of Monument 475 is the northernost point of New Hampshire.
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