Latitude 43 North meets the Atlantic Ocean

Rye Harbor State Park, New Hampshire (+43.0017, -70.7425)

    This state park is the furthest east point exactly on the 43rd parallel of latitude in the United States. As we drove to the site and paid our parking fee, I was excited to see a tall obelisk near the Atlantic Ocean. But, alas, it didn’t relate to anything about latitude 43 degrees north. It is labeled 1614, and remembers John Smith’s visit to New Hampshire during that year. 

    Yes, this is the same John Smith that was a leader of the first British colony in North America -- Jamestown, Virginia. He was a famous author who loved to tell of his exploits, many of which are doubted. You may remember the story of Pocahontas. According to the 1953 World Book Encyclopedia, “… the Indians captured Smith and condemned him to death. He claimed that Pocahontas, the daughter of the Indian chief, saved him by throwing her body on his when the executioner’s ax was about to fall. This story also is doubted.” 

    Smith was later injured in a gunpowder explosion and returned to England in 1609. He returned to North America in 1614, where he explored the coasts further north of Virginia, which he named “New England” and made accurate maps of the area. According to the information on the memorial, this map was later used by the Pilgrims when they came to Massachusetts and founded Plymouth in 1620.

    The monument was erected in 2014, the 400th anniversary of Smith’s map. I was amused to read that it is 17 feet, 2 inches tall, which is the same as 16 feet, 14 inches (1614).

    In addition, there is a historical marker in the park related to the Isles of Shoals, visible offshore from the park.