The 38th meridian west from Washington is an archaic

meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

based on the

Washington Meridian The Washington meridians are four meridians that were used as prime meridians in the United States and pass through Washington, D.C. The four which have been specified are: # through the Capitol # through the White House # through the old Naval Ob ...

, lying approximately 115°02′48″ west of the

Prime Meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrary meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great c ...

through

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

. The meridian is not currently used for any boundaries, but historically formed the eastern boundary of

Nevada Territory The Territory of Nevada (N.T.) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until October 31, 1864, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Nevada. Prior to the creation of the Nevada T ...

and the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and the western boundary of

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...

History

In 1861, the western portion of what was then Utah Territory was split off to form the Nevada Territory, and the boundary between the two territories was initially set at the

39th meridian west from Washington The 39th meridian west from Washington is an archaic meridian based on the Washington meridian. The meridian is currently used as a boundary for two states. The first usage of the meridian as a boundary occurred in 1861, when Nevada Territory w ...

. However,

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

was discovered the next year to the east of this meridian, and Nevada Territory's Congressional delegation requested that the boundary be moved east. Congress granted this request on July 14, 1862, moving the boundary east one degree to the 38th meridian. Nevada Territory became the state of

in 1864, but its eastern boundary would remain at the 38th meridian until May 5, 1866. At that time, in part due to the discovery of more gold, the eastern boundary of Nevada was moved east one degree again to the 37th meridian, where it remains today. Since then, the 38th meridian has not served as a boundary for any

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

References

Meridians (geography) {{US-geo-stub