Mount Pierce (California)

Mount Pierce, sometimes called Pierce Mountain[2] or Monument Peak[1] at 3179 ft (949 m), is the highest point of the Monument Ridge which is part of the Coast Range in Humboldt County, California. It was named after U.S. President Franklin Pierce (1804–69).[3] The summit offers a wide view of a wide area in Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity and Del Norte counties north to the state of Oregon.

Mount Pierce
Mount Pierce
Location of Mount Pierce in California [1]
Highest point
Peak3179
Elevation969 m (3,179 ft)
Coordinates40°25′3″N 124°7′15″W 
Geography
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
DistrictHumboldt County
Topo mapUSGS Scotia

Due to the high visibility of the top of Mount Pierce and the inability to see Mount Diablo from the northwestern corner of the state, a new principal meridian, the Humboldt meridian was established in 1853[4] intersecting the survey base line at the summit of Mount Pierce which still governs the surveys in the northwestern corner of California.[5]

The summit of Mount Pierce was marked with a tower of iron bars, now gone, but currently noted by an array of antennas, a geodetic marker and a plaque, placed on October 4, 2003 on the sesquicentennial of the establishment of the Humboldt Meridian Initial Point by Deputy Surveyor Henry Washington on October 6, 1853.[6] The center of the Initial Point is marked by a standard US Coast and Geodetic Survey triangulation station disc, stamped “Mt. Pierce 1928.”

Notes
  1. "Mount Pierce". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  2. Gudde, Erwin G. California Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1949.
  3. Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1902. pp. 208.
  4. Part 5: Public Land Survey System Standards for USGS and USDA Forest Service Single Edition Quadrangle Maps (5/03)
  5. Plane Surveying for Use in the Classroom and Field By William Galt Raymond
  6. "Humboldt Principal Meridian, Scotia, CA". Principal Meridian Project. Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2019-11-09. Humboldt Meridian Initial Point - Established by Deputy Surveyor Henry Washington - October 6, 1853 - At this location, on October 6, 1853, Deputy Surveyor Henry Washington established the Humboldt Meridian Initial Point. All future surveys in Northwestern California would originate from this point, north to oregon, east into Trinity County, south into Mendocino County, and west to the Pacific Ocean. From this Initial Point, Townships and Ranges were laid out, six miles to a side, and further split up into square miles. This Initial Point is one of three in California, and one of 37 in the United States. This plaque, dedicated on October 4th, 2003, commemorates the sesquicentennial of the Humboldt Base and Meridian Initial Point. Triangulation Station Mt. Pierce 2, established in 1928, now resides at the site of the original point, which was a tower constructed of iron bars believed destroyed by lightning. California Land Surveyor's Association - Humboldt Chapter, United States Bureau of Land Management - Humboldt County Surveyor's Office."
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