Maryland v. West Virginia
| Maryland v. West Virginia | |
|---|---|
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| Argued November 2–4, 1909 Decided February 21, 1910 |
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| Full case name | State of Maryland v. State of West Virginia |
| Citations | 217 U.S. 1 (more)
30 S. Ct. 268; 54 L. Ed. 645; 1910 U.S. LEXIS 1942
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| Subsequent history | Maryland v. West Virginia, 225 U.S. 1 (1912) |
| Holding | |
| West Virginia's border extends to the low-water mark on the south bank of the Potomac River; Boundary disputes should be adjusted according to prescription and equity to least disturb private rights and titles | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Day, joined by unanimous |
Maryland v. West Virginia, 217 U.S. 1 (1910), is a 9-to-0 ruling by the United States Supreme Court which held that the boundary between the American states of Maryland and West Virginia is the south bank of the North Branch Potomac River. The decision also affirmed criteria for adjudicating boundary disputes between states, which said that decisions should be based on the specific facts of the case, applying the principles of law and equity in such a way that least disturbs private rights and title to land.
On June 20, 1632, Charles I, King of England, made a land grant in North America to Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore which became the Province of Maryland (later the state of Maryland). This grant set the boundary of Maryland at the low-water mark of the southern bank of the Potomac River. On September 27, 1688, King James II made a land grant in North America to Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper which became the Colony of Virginia (later the commonwealth of Virginia). This grant designated "the Potomac River" as the boundary of Virginia. The conflicting grants led to a long-running border dispute between Maryland and Virginia. The two states settled navigational and riparian water rights in a compact in 1785, but the boundary dispute continued.
Maryland entered into a separate dispute with Virginia regarding the placement of its true southern boundary in the west. The land grant given to Lord Baltimore stated that the Potomac River to its headwaters was to be the southern boundary of Maryland. From that point, a north-south meridian set the state's western border. At that time no one realized that the Potomac River split into a North Branch and South Branch just east of Green Spring in what is now Hampshire County, West Virginia. The South Branch extended westward for many more miles than the North Branch. The question arose as to which branch constituted the main branch of the Potomac River. For many years, the North Branch was considered the main bed of the river, and Maryland's southern boundary was set there. In 1746, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron sent a party of surveyors to find the headwaters of the Potomac River. On October 23, 1746, they located what they believed to be the headwaters at what is now Fairfax Stone Historical Monument State Park. They carved the letters "Ffx" and Lord Fairfax's coronet into a large pyramidal rock and placed it at the center of these headwaters. In 1748, the Fairfax Stone and the meridian north of it were approved by the Virginia House of Burgesses and the King in Council as the boundary between Virginia and Maryland. The Maryland Assembly passed legislation in April 1787 to formally establish this north-south meridian. Francis Deakins was appointed surveyor, and in 1788 established what became known as the "Deakins line." The Deakins line became the de facto border of Maryland. Unfortunately, the Deakins line was not straight, and it was not a true meridian but rather drifted to the east (intersecting the border with Pennsylvania about three-quarters of a mile east of where it should have done).
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