Near Cody in Park County, Wyoming — The American West (Mountains)

You're Standing on the 45th Parallel

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 11, 2015

1. You're Standing on the 45th Parallel Marker

Inscription.
What's So Special About This Spot?
Your feet are placed on a line that has played a key role in navigating the earth for over two thousand years! The 45th Parallel is not a visible line but a mapping tool that represents a contour halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. It was originally used by seafarers navigating the ocean wilderness with only the sun and stars to guide them.

What Goes Around, Comes Around
Today, even though a myriad of global technologies can pinpoint our location on earth to within 12 inches, the 45th Parallel is still a valuable way of connecting ourselves to other places on the planet. Imagine a line that starts at your feet and then joins the prairies of South Dakota, the north woods of Maine, the wine country of France, the deserts of Mongolia, and then back again at your feet.

What started out as a mapping tool now connects a diversity of landscapes and cultures around the globe.

Hipp-a Who?
The system of latitude and longitude actually dates back to 200 B.C. and a Greek astronomer, Hipparchus.

The 45th parallel, as part of that system, was corrected to shift slightly north 10 miles when discovered that the earth's rotation caused a bulge at the equator.

Erected by Shoshone National

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Forest, U.S. Department of the Interior, Beartooth - All American Road, and Wyoming Forever West.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Landmarks • Notable Places.

Location. 45° 0.123′ N, 109° 51.343′ W. Marker is near Cody, Wyoming, in Park County. Marker is on Beartooth Highway (U.S. 212) 9 miles west of Crandall Road (State Highway 296), on the right when traveling west. Marker is located in a large turn-out and parking lot on the north side of the highway. This location is actually about 1/10 mile southeast of the precise 45th parallel and Wyoming/Montana state line. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Cody WY 82414, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 3 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. The Summer of 1877 (approx. 1½ miles away in Montana); Cooke City General Store (approx. 4 miles away in Montana); The New World Mining District (approx. 4.4 miles away in Montana).

More about this marker. Marker is a framed composite plaque, mounted horizontally on waist-high metal posts.

Also see . . . Hipparchus (Greek Iππαρχος) (ca. 190 B.C.E. - ca. 120 B.C.E.). Hipparchus was a Greek astronomer, geographer,

You're Standing on the 45th Parallel Marker (<i>tall view; Wyoming stateline sign in background</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 11, 2015

2. You're Standing on the 45th Parallel Marker (tall view; Wyoming stateline sign in background)

and mathematician of the Hellenistic period. He was the first to apply mathematical rigor to the determination of the latitude and longitude of places on the Earth. He proposed a means to determine the geographical longitudes of different cities at lunar eclipses. A lunar eclipse is visible simultaneously on half of the Earth, and the difference in longitude between places can be computed from the difference in local time when the eclipse is observed. His approach would give accurate results if it were correctly carried out, but the limitations of timekeeping accuracy in his era made this method impractical. (Submitted on February 24, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Welcome to Wyoming Sign (<i>marker is just beyond picture edge at left</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 11, 2015

3. Welcome to Wyoming Sign (marker is just beyond picture edge at left)

Credits. This page was last revised on February 25, 2019. It was originally submitted on February 24, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 452 times since then and 57 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on February 24, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.