Indian Meridian monument in Langston, Oklahoma, to be restored

But efforts are under way to keep the obelisk from fading into obscurity. Langston University officials and the town of Langston are raising funds to restore it, and everyone is invited to help.

The monument, erected in about 1922, marks the meridian used in 1870 to divide the Oklahoma and Indian territories, according to the Logan County Historical Society. It remains the reference point for all land surveys in Oklahoma.

After 90 years, it needs a little love.

“We have a buy-a-brick campaign that we're doing right now,” said Roosevelt Haney Jr., program director for the Langston University Center for Community Engagement. “We're also selling ads and stuff. We're putting together a souvenir booklet” that will include the monument and other historic sites.

The brick campaign has gotten off to a slow start. Organizers expect it will cost about $26,000 to restore the obelisk and install a stone marker explaining its history. The granite marker will be harder to steal and will be situated off the road, Haney said; to read the old plaque, visitors had to stand in the intersection.