Old Boundary

The 37th parallel ran along here as the southern edge of Nevada for only six years, but the line had a long pedigree. The Compromise of 1850 first drew it to separate Utah Territory from New Mexico; in 1861 it became the boundary of the new Nevada Territory. Then the state reached south — in 1867 Congress added the wedge of old Arizona Territory below this latitude and west of the Colorado River, giving Nevada its lasting shape. The marker keeps the memory of a border the maps long ago erased.

What the plaque says

Nevada's Southern Boundary 1861 -1867. The 37th Degree North Latitude is marked at this point as the dividing line between the territories of Utah and New Mexico under the provisions of the Compromise of 1850 which originally organized the land ceded by Mexico in 1848. When the Territory of Nevada was carved from western Utah in 1861, this line became the southern boundary of the new territory and continued to serve as such when the territory and state were enlarged by extensions to the east in 1862 and 1866, respectively. In 1867, the Nevada Legislature approved the action of Congress to add that portion of the territory of Arizona which lay to the south of this line west of the 114 West Longitude and the Colorado River, and to the east of the boundary to California. This action, taken on January 18, 1867, gave the State of Nevada the permanent boundaries as they are today.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Beatty — 6.7 mi
  The town that water built and water kept — the Bullfrog boom's lone survivor, now Nevada's gateway to Death Valley, with wild burros wandering Main Street.
• Rhyolite — 9.0 mi
  The most complete ghost town in Nevada — a stone city with an opera house and a marble-stepped bank that rose and died inside a decade, now the most photographed ruin in the West.

More markers nearby

• Beatty — 6.8 mi