What the numbers on the gigantic power poles in Peoria, Arizona mean


This morning as I was passing one of the gigantic power poles on 67th Avenue and Cactus Road, in Peoria, a suburb of Phoenix, I noticed there were numbers on it, so I took a photo and shared it with my top history adventuring researcher (who prefers to remain anonymous). I wondered it the numbers meant anything, and I'll tell you what I found it - it has to do with how everything in Arizona is measured, with two points called meridian and baseline.

Long before any roads were built in Arizona, it was measured and divided up. The marker for this is on top of a mountain right next to the Phoenix International Raceway, which is on Avondale Boulevard and Baseline Road. Yes, that's where the name of Baseline Road came from - it's the baseline for the state. Everything is measured from there.


So this pole is fifteen miles north of the Arizona baseline and six miles east of the Arizona meridian. I'm going to continue my research on these power poles, when they were put up, and where they go, but in the meantime, this is a good start.





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