Harrisburg Capitol Dome (KW3117) - Harrisburg, PA
Posted by: Ernmark
N 40° 15.864 W 076° 53.025
18T E 339820 N 4458805
The dome of the State Capitol Building in Harrisburg also serves as a benchmark.
Waymark Code: WM6FZJ
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 05/28/2009
Views: 24
Although the Geocaching database gives no descriptive text, the NGS datasheet does list recovery info - details follow:
DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1950 (RGH)
THE STATION WAS RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION.
NO PREVIOUS DESCRIPTION GIVEN FOR THIS STATION. IT IS THE LARGE DOME LOCATED ON THE CENTER OF THE STATE CAPITOL BUILDING AND ABOUT MIDWAY BETWEEN TWO SMALLER DOMES AT EACH END OF THIS BUILDING.
STATION RECOVERY (1957)
RECOVERY NOTE BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1957 (JBW)
THE STATION WAS RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION AS DESCRIBED BY R.G.H. IN 1950. THE DESCRIPTION IS ADEQUATE AND COMPLETE.
STATION RECOVERY (1960)
RECOVERY NOTE BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1960 (JCC)
THE STATION WAS RECOVERED AS DESCRIBED AND FOUND IN GOOD CONDITION.
STATION RECOVERY (1962)
RECOVERY NOTE BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1962 (JBA)
THE STATION WAS RECOVERED AS DESCRIBED AND FOUND TO BE IN GOOD CONDITION.
STATION RECOVERY (1989)
RECOVERY NOTE BY US POWER SQUADRON 1989 (IEE)
RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION.
The current Capitol dates back to 1906, and is based on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The dome is 272 feet high and weighs 52 million pounds. The top of the dome is surmounted by a statue by Roland Hinton Perry depicting "Commonwealth". She stands on a gold leafed sphere & holds a long staff.
Since it was never stated what exact part of the dome is the true "benchmark" - it is actually possible that this mark could officially meet the the NGS criteria as being 'destroyed' since the statue was removed and repaired about 20 year ago - then returned to the top of the dome. If the physical center of the dome is the true mark - then everthing survey-wise is still considered intact.