Duluth DDA Orders Eastern Continental Divide Marker

Duluth may become the first city to erect a permanent Eastern Continental Divide marker in the Atlanta metro area. Duluth Downtown Development Authority Vice Chairman Rob Ponder reported this week that the order for the slender granite obelisk has been placed.

The monument is expected to attract tourists who would pose next to it for photographs near the edge of the Town Green at West Lawrenceville Street. 

“The marker has been ordered for delivery the Tuesday before the Duluth Fall Festival,” Ponder said. “It will be draped and unveiled during the festival probably after the (Saturday morning) parade.” This year’s festival dates are Saturday, Sept. 24, and Sunday, Sept. 25. Lighting for the monument would be installed later, he said.

Ponder suggested designing Eastern Continental Divide T-shirts bearing the image of the monument to be sold at the festival with $1 of the proceeds going to the DDA.

Designed by Ponder, an architect, the obelisk is 18 inches square at the bottom tapering to 15 inches square at the base of the pyramidium at the top. The peak at the top of the monument is nine feet tall. Carved out of native Georgia granite, the marker would weigh about 3,600 pounds, according to Ponder.

The city already has erected a sign on posts next to the Church Ladies consignment shop across West Lawrenceville Street from the Town Green indicating the location of the divide.

The Eastern Continental Divide runs from Pennsylvania to Florida and demarcates the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico watersheds. If water falls on the east side of the divide it eventually runs into the Atlantic Ocean, whereas water falling on the west side flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The divide was used in locating early railroad routes where cities like Duluth grew and prospered.

Norcross and other cities crossed by the divide have been meeting to discuss erecting markers. The next meeting is planned in Duluth.

The front of the monument has been designed so that the words Duluth, GA, would appear above the head of a six-foot-person posing for a photograph. On the rear would be a map of Georgia showing the location of the Eastern Continental Divide and the rivers in the state. The front of the monument would face the Old City Hall.

The estimated cost of the marker including a poured concrete footing is $9,700, Ponder said. Half of the monument cost has been paid, he said, with the remainder due at delivery, he announced at the July 26 DDA meeting. The foundation has to be poured 28 days in advance to cure, he said.

The Duluth City Council has endorsed the DDA’s plans to proceed with erecting the monument, and the Duluth Fall Festival has agreed to pay for it. The obelisk is a redesigned version of a monolith that the city council thought would block too much of the view of the Town Green and City Hall. At eye level, the obelisk is only 16 inches wide, according to Ponder.