The New Mexico meridian, is longitude 106° 53′ 40″ west from Greenwich.[1] It extends throughout New Mexico and into Colorado, and together with the baseline, at latitude 34° 15′ 25″ north, governs township and range surveys in New Mexico, except those in the northwest corner of the state which refer to the Navajo meridian and baseline.[1] The New Mexico meridian and Baseline also provide the basis for township and range surveys in the upper valley of the Rio Grande del Norte in Colorado.[2]
The New Mexico meridian intersects the principal baseline, i.e. the initial point, above the Rio Grande, about ten miles (16 km) below the mouth of the Rio Puerco, on Black Butte just southeast of the village of San Acacia, New Mexico.[3]
This meridian was established in 1855 by John W. Garretson, a surveyor for the U.S. government.[3]
- ^ a b Raymond, William Galt (1914). Plane Surveying for Use in the Classroom and Field (via Google Books). New York: American Book Company. p. 458.
- ^ Lands in the San Luis Valley were surveyed as part of New Mexico prior to the Civil Expenses Appropriation act of 2 March 1867 which provided for the survey of the 37th parallel north. 39th Congress, Session II, Chapter 167 (1867) 14 Statutes at Large 466 New Mexico had lost approximately 14,948 square miles, as all of the territory north of the 37th parallel was given to Colorado when it was created in 1861. 36th Congress, Session II, Chapter 59 (28 February 1861) 12 Statutes at Large 172 See Baldwin, P.E. (1930) "A Historical Note on the Boundaries of New Mexico" New Mexico Historical Review 5(2): pp. 117-137, p. 132 and map facing p. 128
- ^ a b Luebke, Kurt A. and Creel, Buckner M., V (2007) "The New Mexico Principal Meridian" Principal Meridian Project