Duluth Eastern Continental Divide Marker Redesigned

The Duluth City Council authorized the Downtown Development Authority to proceed with plans to erect a redesigned marker identifying the Eastern Continental Divide to attract tourists who would pose next to it for photographs near the edge of the Town Green at West Lawrenceville Street. 

The DDA recommended at its April 19 meeting that DDA Vice President Rob Ponder present the revised design to the city council at its April 25 work session. The council had received an earlier monolith design lukewarmly out of concern it would block too much of the view of the Town Green and City Hall.

Ponder, an architect, now has proposed a slender obelisk. The new monument is more “delicate” than the four-foot wide by nine-foot tall previous design, Ponder said. At eye level, the new monument is only 16 inches wide, Ponder said. 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 3,600 pounds, Ponder said. The redesign had been well-received at the DDA meeting. 

“I think it would catch your eye while driving by, but it wouldn’t block much of the view,” Ponder said.

In the interim, the city 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.

Ponder told the council that Eastern Continental Divide enthusiasts Elliott Brack and Jack Yeazel have been following Duluth’s efforts to identify the divide and would like to see all cities along it establish markers.  A meeting was recently held in Norcross to discuss putting up a marker, Ponder said. 

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, Ponder said. On the rear would be a map of Georgia showing the location of the Eastern Continental Divide and the rivers in the state, he said. The front of the monument would face the old City Hall.

Ponder suggested a line be cut in the concrete for a short distance on either side of the monument and filled with black caulk so that visitors can have their photos taken “straddling” the divide.

Ponder estimated the cost of the monument at $8,413 including $2,070 for the foundation and $6,343 for the granite obelisk. Wayne Herman, chairman of the Duluth Fall Festival, indicated that the Festival Committee possibly might pay for the monument.