The East Baseline-Meridian marker, situated in a swamp at the end of a boardwalk. It is the northern of the two markers.The West Baseline-Meridian marker at Michigan Meridian-Baseline State ParkThe East Baseline-Meridian marker at Michigan Meridian-Baseline State Park
Efforts to acquire the site were initiated by state and private interests in the 1960s. In the 1960s and 1970s, land was acquired and money was raised toward establishing a Museum of Surveying on the site. Those efforts were abandoned when the Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors opened a museum in Lansing, Michigan, in 1981.[7]
Although the site was landlocked for many years, in 2014, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources acquired additional property allowing public access from Meridian Road near the Jackson–Ingham county line.[8] Improvements made at the site included trail clearing and construction of a 10-car parking lot.[9] After road signs, trail markers, and a bridge over the creek were added, the State of Michigan in conjunction with Ingham and Jackson counties, opened the new access to the park on October 12, 2015. In 2016, an additional boardwalk was completed in the wetlands near the markers.[9]
The Shaw Branch river, which is a tributary of the Grand River, runs through the park perpendicular to the path. A small footbridge allows you to walk over the river.
