The Northern Border

The start of the Black-Allan Line, in the Alps (image ABC)

The Number One border cairn (image ABC)

In a previous post, we looked at the history of the ‘Disputed Territory’ the strip of land along the Victorian-South Australian border (see the “Border clash” post)

One would think that such a dispute would be enough for Victoria, but in fact the state would later be arguing with New South Wales along the Black-Allan line – the straight line on the map between Cape Howe on the coast and the headwaters of the Murray River.

How surveyors Alexander Black and Alexander Charles Allan were set the task, and between 1870 and 1872 battled the mountainous terrain to delineate a border between the two states, has been told by ABC Radio National

Black's calculations for the border (image PROV)

Alexander Black (image PROV)

'In the wilderness of the Australian Alps the border between NSW and Victoria isn't marked out by a fence, a road, or the Murray River. It’s simply bush. And, deep inside that bush, unless you know about the Black-Allan Line, and where to find its 150 year old border cairns, it's difficult to know what state you are in. This line, the straight section of the current border between NSW and Victoria, is named after the original surveyors Alexander Black and Alexander Allan, who in 1872, mapped their way to the coast.
The line runs from the source of the Murray River to Cape Howe, on the east coast of Australia. It is still considered to be a triumph of surveying. As the result of extended legal disputes, this border was not formally ratified until 2006.
If you can find Alexander Black's number one border cairn at the start of the line, you will see it has been lovingly restored.'
Listen to the ABC podcast, and watch the short ABC video.
   
So thanks to both the ABC, and Public Record Office Victoria for access to original maps, letters and notebooks from the 1870 surveying parties.

And if you are a Geocacher there is a cache (“Black-Allan Line”) near the monument to the Black-Allan line on the highway near Genoa.