The Tri-States Monument (also known as Tri-State Rock) is a granite monument that marks the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

of the state boundaries of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It is at the northwestern end of the boundary between New Jersey and New York, the northern end of the boundary between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and the eastern end of the boundary between New York and Pennsylvania. The monument is located at the confluence of the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

and Neversink rivers. This location is also known as Carpenter's Point. The nearby Witness Monument, also known as the Reference Monument or the western State Line Monument, is a taller upright granite monument located south of the Laurel Grove Cemetery in

Port Jervis, New York Port Jervis is a city located at the confluence of the Neversink and Delaware rivers in western Orange County, New York, United States, north of the Delaware Water Gap. Its population was 8,775 at the 2020 census. The communities of Deerpark, ...

, and under a bridge for Interstate 84. It is not directly on any state boundary, but instead witnesses the location of two points: this tripoint and the corner boundary point between New York and Pennsylvania in the Delaware River. The

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

summarized the boundaries of these three states with respect to this monument in ''New Jersey v. New York'', 283 U.S. 336 (1931): Also, it is the northernmost point of New Jersey, in Montague Township, Sussex County.

Background

In 1664,

King Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of King of England, England, Scotland and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II ...

granted his brother, James, the Duke of York, a Royal colony that covered what had been

New Netherlands New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva P ...

. Later in 1664, the Duke of York divided this area between the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

and the Delaware River to Sir

George Carteret Vice Admiral Sir George Carteret, 1st Baronet ( – 14 January 1680 N.S.) was a royalist statesman in Jersey and England, who served in the Clarendon Ministry as Treasurer of the Navy. He was also one of the original lords proprietor of the ...

and Lord Berkeley of Stratton. The western and northern border was to be:

History

In December 1872, the New Jersey Geological Survey had the State Geologist, George H. Cook, survey the boundary between New Jersey and New York. In 1874, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey recovered the previous crow foot cut marking the station location and placed a lead-filled copper pipe in a deep hole drilled into the bedrock. In 1882, this copper bolt was replaced with a granite monument similar to the witness monument. But ice flows broke off the upper portion by the spring of 1883. The remaining monument was then reworked on May 21, 1885 to its current description.

Description

NJ-NY-PA Tri-States Monument - 2013 top view

The Tri-States Monument is long, wide, and high above the bedrock. The top surface is engraved with the initials of the names of the three states and with grooves representing the state boundaries. "Tri States Monument" is engraved on the north side. It is by the water's edge near the high-water mark of the rivers. A bronze

U.S. National Geodetic Survey The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is a United States federal agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a large number of applications ...

survey marker Survey markers, also called survey marks, survey monuments, or geodetic marks, are objects placed to mark key survey points on the Earth's surface. They are used in geodetic and land surveying. A ''benchmark'' is a type of survey marker that i ...

stamped LAUREL NO. 2 1942 was in the center of the top surface until 2013. It was a reference mark for the triangulation station, LAUREL, that was from the Witness Monument. Both were set in 1942. The Witness Monument is inscribed "Boundary Monument" and dated 1882 on both sides. "Witness Monument" is engraved on the east side. The New Jersey (south) side details the location of the tripoint: It also lists the commissioners from New Jersey: Abraham Browning, Thomas N. McCarter, and George H. Cook; and surveyor Edward A. Bowser. The New York (north) side details the location of the corner boundary point between New York and Pennsylvania: And lists the commissioners from New York: Henry R. Pierson,

Chauncey M. Depew Chauncey Mitchell Depew (April 23, 1834April 5, 1928) was an American attorney, businessman, and Republican politician. He is best remembered for his two terms as United States Senator from New York and for his work for Cornelius Vanderbilt, as ...

, Elias W. Leavenworth; and surveyor H. W. Clarke.

Gallery

File:NJ-NY-PA Tri-States and Witness Monuments - looking southwest.jpg, Overlooking the Tri-States Monument and the Delaware River from the Witness Monument File:NJ-NY-PA Tri-States Monument - looking southwest.jpg, Looking southwest along the Delaware River, with Sussex County, New Jersey on the left and

Pike County, Pennsylvania Pike County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,535. Its county seat is Milford. Pike County is included in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, ...

on the right File:NJ-NY-PA Tri-States Monument - looking north.jpg, Looking north under the Interstate 84 bridge and along the Delaware River toward

Matamoras, Pennsylvania Matamoras is a borough in Pike County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,362 at the 2020 census. It is the easternmost municipality of any kind in Pennsylvania. Matamoras is part of the New York–Newark–Jersey City, NY–NJ� ...

File:Tri-State Rock, showing line of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania States (62085).jpg, Postcard view File:USGS Port Jervis South (1995), NJ-NY-PA Tri-States Monument detail.jpg,

Topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...

showing state boundaries

References

External links