Zero Milestone

Atop the monument is a bronze 16-point compass rose with a very small worn-down pyramid at its center whose top serves as a National Geodetic Survey benchmark (HV1847).

"[4] The monument has engravings on four surfaces: In addition, a "brass plate placed on the ground at the north base" shown below, contains the following inscription.

The current Zero Milestone monument was conceived by Good Roads Movement advocate Dr. S. M. Johnson, formally proposed on June 7, 1919.

On July 7, 1919, a temporary marker for the Zero Milestone was dedicated on the Ellipse south of the White House during ceremonies launching the Army's first attempt to send a convoy of military vehicles across the country to San Francisco, California.

On June 5, 1920, Congress authorized the Secretary of War to erect the current monument, design to be approved by the Commission of Fine Arts and installed at no expense to the government.

Zero Milestone face
Zero Milestone face. Washington DC.
Zero Milestone, facing the stone's northwest corner (2010)
Compass rose on top of monument (2014).
Zero Milestone, 1923. The surface seen in the photo is the monument's south face.
Zero Milestone. Inscription on brass plate embedded on ground near the monument.
The west side of the Jefferson Pier in April 2011, with the Washington Monument in the background.