Editor’s note: This concise history of the Epping Baseline is excerpted from an article written by Burni Andres for the 150th anniversary of the baseline in 2007. It is reprinted here with permission of the Cherryfield Narraguagus Historical Society. The full text can be found on their website, www.cherryfieldhistorical.com.

In the early 1800s the accuracy of existing nautical charts was poor.