North Carolina–Tennessee–Virginia Corners facts for kids

The North Carolina–Tennessee–Virginia Corners is a special spot where three states meet: North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. This kind of meeting point for three states is called a tripoint.

This important landmark is found in the Iron Mountains. It's about 16 miles north of Snake Mountain and 8 miles southwest of Mount Rogers, which is the tallest mountain in Virginia.

The closest town to this tripoint is Whitetop, Virginia, which is about four miles northeast. You can reach the marker by following a hiking trail.

Why Borders Are Tricky: A History Lesson

The exact location of this tripoint was a big puzzle for a long time! Back in the 1700s, the tools used to measure land weren't as good as they are today. This led to many arguments about where the borders between Virginia and Tennessee actually were.

These arguments even went all the way to the US Supreme Court! In 1893, the court made a decision in a case called Virginia v. Tennessee. This ruling finally set the modern borders and confirmed the tripoint we know today, which was first surveyed in 1802.

Early Attempts to Draw the Line

The first try at setting a border happened way back in 1665. This was when the lines for the Colony of Virginia and the Province of Carolina were first drawn. Charles II of England changed Carolina's charter, giving it control over the Albemarle Sound. This meant the border was supposed to follow the 36th parallel north, which was 34 miles north of the original line. The idea was that this line would continue when Tennessee became a state.

It wasn't until 1710 that people actually started surveying the land. This was important because defining the border allowed land to be bought and sold, and taxes to be collected. But this first survey didn't go smoothly! Edward Moseley from Carolina said that Virginia's surveyors were using bad equipment. On the other hand, the Virginian surveyors thought Moseley had a personal reason to cause trouble because he owned land near the border.

Surveying the Land Again

In 1728, Virginia and North Carolina tried again to survey the land together. A new line was drawn, and William Byrd II wrote about it. This line started at the Atlantic Ocean and went inland to the Dan River. The 1728 survey stopped near what is now Danville, Virginia.

The Virginia team believed that people would keep moving west and settling new lands. So, William Byrd II's team surveyed the line even further, all the way to Peters Creek, Virginia, which was about 40 miles west. The North Carolina team stopped their survey sooner because they thought surveying too far would make people rush to settle the western lands too quickly.

The Fry-Jefferson Line

In 1749, a team from Virginia, including Peter Jefferson and Joshua Fry, surveyed another 90 miles west of the Peters Creek point. However, this survey was later found to be very inaccurate. Jefferson and Fry had drifted almost five miles north of where they should have been. This happened because they didn't properly account for how the magnetic north changes.

This survey became known as the Fry-Jefferson line of 1751. Peter Jefferson is also remembered for surveying the Great Wagon Road. This road became a very important path for travel through the Shenandoah Valley from Pennsylvania to Virginia.

The end point of the Fry-Jefferson Line was near where the modern tripoint of the three states is located today. The line from the Fry-Jefferson survey was different from the modern Tennessee–Virginia line. This is because different surveyors, hired by different states, used different equipment to claim land. The final border was settled by the compromise made in the Virginia v. Tennessee court case in 1893.