Zero Obelisk
| Zero Obelisk | |
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Zero Obelisk
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| Location | East Bank, Warrego River, Barringun, Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia |
| Coordinates | 28°59′57″S 145°40′08″E / 28.9991°S 145.6688°ECoordinates: 28°59′57″S 145°40′08″E / 28.9991°S 145.6688°E |
| Design period | 1870s - 1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | 1879 |
| Official name: Zero Obelisk | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600763 |
| Significant period | 1879 (fabric, historical) |
 Location of Zero Obelisk in Queensland
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Zero Obelisk is a heritage-listed survey marker on the east bank of the Warrego River, Barringun, Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1879. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. The Zero Obelisk marks the beginning of the first official survey of the border between the colonies of Queensland and New South Wales in 1879-80.
The need for an official survey of the border had been recognised for many years but the work was not begun until mid 1879, when officers from both colonies met at the telegraph station at Barringun in New South Wales which was close to the border (Latitude 29°S). The surveyors were JB Cameron and J Conder, Trigonometrical Surveyors, from New South Wales and GC Watson, Surveying Commissioner of Crown Lands, Warrego District, from Queensland.
John Brewer Cameron was born in Scotland and immigrated to Victoria with his family in 1853. Noted for being athletic and adventurous, he travelled first to the Victorian goldfields and then to New Zealand. Returning to Victoria, he joined a government geodetic surveying party working in the area near Mount Baw Baw. This experience led him to decide to take up a career in surveying. He went to Fiji as a surveyor in 1869, then returned in 1872 to Victoria where he specialised in surveying and geodesy. By 1879 he was a First Class surveyor in the Trigonometrical branch of the New South Wales Lands Department and a member of the Royal Geographical Society of New South Wales. In this year he undertook his most notable commission, to survey the border between Queensland and New South Wales.
The survey work began at Zero Obelisk at Barringun, the division of work between the surveyors being described by Cameron in a letter to his uncle, Ewen Cameron:
Mr Watson is responsible for chainage while I am for the astronomical portion in finding true meridian, giving true bearing, setting off the chords, and finding latitude at every convenient site.
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