Tri-State Marker

The corner sits where a parallel fixed in one decade met a meridian drawn in the next. Iowa's northern boundary has run along 43 degrees 30 minutes north since statehood on December 28, 1846, with the Big Sioux River forming its western edge. When Congress wrote Minnesota's enabling act in February 1857, it ran the new state's west line from the outlet of Big Stone Lake due south to the north line of Iowa. Where that line met the parallel the three jurisdictions touched, and the surveyors of 1859 set their post.

What the plaque says

Tri-State Marker 1859 Set at the junction of the states of Minnesota, Iowa and Dakota Territory by the federal land office survey of Minnesota's western boundary. Early 1900's Removed after partial destruction by vandals 1938 Repaired and reset by adjacent counties at original site under direction of U.S. Department of Interior 1979 Broken from base by vehicle traffic 1980 Restored and relocated at this site by the county governments and historical societies of Lyon County, IA, Rock County, Minn. and Minnehaha County, S.D. Flush marker set at original location- 43° 30' N. L. Dedicated to the pioneers of Siouxland this 26th day of October, 1980

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Falls Park — 14 mi
  The falls a town company came for in 1856, abandoned in 1862, and tried to make pay with a seven-story quartzite mill that ran for barely two years.

More markers nearby

• Town of Rowena Dakota Territory — 5.6 mi
• The Town of Valley Springs — 6.2 mi
• Iverson Crossing Road — 7.2 mi
• Minnehaha County — 7.6 mi