Zero Milestone at President's Park

The Zero Milestone, dedicated in 1923, is a granite marker on the north side of the Ellipse in President's Park that was intended to mark the point from which road distances in the United States would be measured. It stands just south of the White House grounds and is often cited in surveys and historical accounts of federal planning. The marker is a deliberate, centralized surveying monument rather than a natural feature, reflecting early 20th-century efforts to formalize distance measurement in the capital.