February 21, 1910
Supreme Court Upholds the Deakins Line Along Preston’s Maryland Border
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the long-recognized Deakins line in the boundary dispute between Maryland and West Virginia. The decision directly affected the border between Garrett and Preston counties. The Court considered the established practices of residents who paid Preston County taxes, voted there, and used West Virginia schools. Commissioners subsequently surveyed and marked the boundary, and the Court confirmed their majority report on May 2, 1912.
Research status
This entry has been checked against its named source.
The timeline wording accurately reflects the source listed below. This status does not necessarily mean the event has been independently corroborated against additional records.
Sources and further reading
Where this entry comes from
Maryland v. West Virginia, 217 U.S. 1 (1910), especially pp. 40–47; 225 U.S. 1 (1912)
Research notes
What the evidence establishes
Distinguish the February 21, 1910 opinion, the May 31, 1910 decree appointing commissioners, and the May 2, 1912 confirmation. The survey took place in 1910–1911. The Court’s opinion in the 1910 volume begins at printed page 22; preceding pages include lawyers’ arguments, not the Court’s findings.
The boundary’s southern starting point was on the North Branch of the Potomac where the line from the Fairfax Stone met the river. The stone itself should not be described as Maryland’s present southwestern corner. The Court preserved a boundary supported by longstanding recognition rather than selecting a new astronomically exact north–south line.
This entry does not establish acreage won, a count of affected residents, or individual transferred parcels. The linked 2020 photograph is illustrative of a site associated with the dispute; it does not depict the court proceedings, the survey, or the original eighteenth-century stone.
Related historical photograph
Fairfax Stone Historical Monument State Park, September 9, 2020
Photograph by Antony-22, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Modern illustrative site photograph, not a photograph of the 1910 decision or 1910–1911 survey. The original photographer’s upload provides attribution and license information.
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