I have heard that when the maps and charts show the distance between 2
cities, the distance is calculated from a specific point in those
cities; for example the point in New York City is the Columbus Circle
Monument. In other word Columbus Circle is the Geographic Center of
NYC.

I would like to know if this is true, and if so 1. who determines
these points, 2. what are they called, and 3. where I can find a list
of them.

Hello majel-ga,

These points are generally called "zero milestones".  They are
apparently determined in different ways, as illustrated by the
following pages.  A number of zero milestones are listed on these
pages as well.  (I doubt there is a comprehensive list; there are so
many cities and towns in the world that might have a milestone.)

"Zero Milestone - Washington, D.C.", by Richard F. Weingroff
U.S. Department of Transportation: Federal Highway Administration
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/zero.htm

"Milestone Inventory & Photograpic Collection - Ceremonial and Zero
Milestones"
U.S. Route 40 - America's Golden Highway
http://www.route40.net/history/milestones/ceremonial.shtml

"Millarium Aureum - the 'Golden Milestone'"
Milestonesweb
http://www.milestonesweb.com/datum.htm

"'Zero Milestone'" (September 2002)
West Virginia Department of Transportation
http://www.wvdot.com/tv/092002/September2002_Highways_Zero_Milestone.htm

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used on Google:

milestone "official distance"
"zero milestones"
"zero milestone"

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Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 19 Apr 2003 23:33 PDT

It is likely that some towns and cities have official centers without
physical milestones.  In that case, the center might perhaps be called
a zero point or datum point, or even zero datum point.  I believe I
have seen a plaque on La Salle Street in Chicago marking a "zero datum
point" (or a variation on that phrase).

---

Request for Answer Clarification by majel-ga on 20 Apr 2003 07:37 PDT

let's think more global and specific. for example Paris, Amsterdam,
Rome, Barcelona, Athens, Moscow, Cairo, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Tehran,
Kabul, Bombay, Beijing, Tokyo. Are the "Points" in these cities just a
piece of stone "somewhere" or one of their Monuments (or next to it
like the Capitol in DC)?

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 20 Apr 2003 12:16 PDT

In researching the central points for the cities you mentioned, I came
across another term that is even more widely used than "zero
milestone": namely, "zero kilometer" (or "zero kilometre").  (The term
"zero mile" -- alone or in the phrases "zero mile marker", "zero mile
post", or "zero milepost" -- is used in the United States.)

I have found these "zero" points for four of the cities you have
mentioned.  (You can also find ones for Madrid, Budapest, and some
other cities.)  The markers for three of these four cities are a stone
(Paris), a marker on a square (Moscow), and a pole at the end of a
bridge (Tokyo).  I could not determine what the Athens marker (if any)
looks like.

"Le Marais & Bastille"
Guided Paris
http://members.lycos.co.uk/emmaemmaemma/Bastille.html

"The Zero Kilometer Mark - Moscow, Russia", by Dan Klein (20-May-2000)
Degree Confluence Project
http://www.confluence.org/zero/

"The J-Files: The Scene: Japan" 
T-Rex's Candy Haven [Note: This is an unusual source for this
information, but the fact that the center is at this bridge is
mentioned on several other web pages, and the fact that it is a pole
is referred to in a short story on another web page.]
http://amsharp.nameless.ca/webfiles/Journal/TheScene.html

"Discovering the Center of Athens" [section on Syntagma Square]
Greece101
http://www.greece101.com/destFullArticle.display-lid1-slid20-did4-cid64.html


Search terms used on Google included:

"zero kilometer"
"zero kilometre"
"distances are measured"
[names of cities]

In Australia and New Zealand it was always where the city's General
Post Office is. Even so, I could only find two mentions:

http://www.issupport.qut.edu.au/studentlife/accommodation/suburb.jsp
http://www.osiris.gov.au/html/agreements/9/I0155/0/IA000440.htm

"2. What are they called"

The term for what you're looking for seems to be "zero point."

See these newsgroup messages:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet&selm=3ABA149F.9AB28E32%40mail.verizon.net
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet&selm=mC227.1139%24J43.3494%40newsfeed.slurp.net

It's my understanding that the "zero point" of Paris is a marker
outside of Notre Dame.

"Outside Notre Dame, we find the round marker designating the “zero
point” of France, from which distances are measured. Legend has it
that if you walk across the marker and make a wish, it will come true
in a year."
http://www.paris-golf.com/gb/pages/cparis.htm

"The plaque here in the square is the zero-point for all distances
measured from other towns to Paris, underlining yet again the central
role of the island in Parisian history. "
http://www.pariserve.tm.fr/English/paris/cite.htm

After following the link provided by Justaskscott, I notice that the
Notre Dame "zero point" is mentioned on that web page.  From the name
of the link, I had assumed that it had claimed the Bastille as the
"zero point," but I see now that that is not the case.

Sorry for any redundancy.

In London, England, the point from which all distances are measured is
the statue of King Charles I in Trafalgar Square; but I'm not sure
that there is any official marker on that spot, or whether it has any
particular designation. (Perhaps confusingly in this context, there is
a well known, high rise office building in London called Centre Point,
but it has no particular right to that name.)