Selected Sundials of North America

This is a selected listing of sundials in the North American Sundial Society Registry. Click on any dial thumbnail picture or city name to display the full dial description with additional information and images.

 

Maine

 
Auburn Maine USA Obelisk or Vertical Gnomon Dial 690
A Vertical Gnomon Dial painted on an asphalt parking lot using the tip of a vertical light pole as the gnomon. Dial face includes hour lines, solstice and equinox lines and a compass rose showing true north direction. Markings include an analemma on the noon line with monthly marks. The dial is used as a teaching tool with formal lessons for students. The dial was designed using calculations from Naval Observatory.
 
 
Augusta Maine USA Horizontal Dial Dial 872
This historic brass dial is about 18 inches in diameter, set upon a square, concrete pillar. The dial plate has Roman numbers and is delineated in quarter hours. Magnetic variation is engraved at degree intervals. The dial originally had a removable wood cover, then a metal one, which became permanently closed. It was removed in 2009 and now has a plexiglass cover. From Betty Adams in the Kennebec Journal, "At the uncovering, a half dozen people strained to read some of the lettering on the dial: 'Arc for magnetic variation', [and on an interior circle] 'Moses B. Bliss - Circumferentor' which means surveyor's compass... The meridian monument was one of those erected at county courthouses in Maine between 1869 and 1871, according to research by Harold E. Nelson, senior geodesist at the Maine Department of Transportation's property office...Nelson said the monument would have been used by local land surveyors to test their compasses against true north."
 
 
Brunswick Maine USA Vertical Dial Dial 53
A set of three declining vertical dials each approximately 3x4 foot of carved Indiana Limestone set into the east, south and west facades of Hubbard Hall. Dial faces include hour lines and Arabic hour numerals. Each bronze gnomon rod is additionally supported at its end. The dials are not corrected for longitude and there is no EOT correction provided. With corrections, all three dials tell accurate time. The building south wall declines approximately 18? west of south.
 
 
Brunswick Maine USA Horizontal Dial Dial 830
In the shade of many trees is a 12 inch circular horizontal sundial sitting on a square granite plinth. The dial plate shows solar time with Roman numerals V to VII (5am to 7pm). Half and quarter hours are shown with dots.
 
 
Falmouth Maine USA Armillary Sphere Dial 829
This bronze armillary sundial is about 18 inches in diameter. The prime meridian ring is embossed with an intricate design. A different designed with forward and backward "S" adorns the exterior of the equatorial ring while the interior has embossed Roman numerals for the the hours. The 6-hour ring is plain and there is no horizontal ring. The arrow gnomon rod is at the correct slope but the dial is free to turn on its base so that it is not oriented north.
 
 
Newcastle Maine USA Horizontal Dial Dial 427
A small horizontal dial with an interesting history. In 1997 when the dial was installed, the following is quoted of designer and builder Jim Estey: "We set it by our watches," Jim said, and then glued it down to its stand. That means it cannot be reset when the sun and time changes, but visitors will have to compensate."
 
 
Portland Maine USA Horizontal Dial Dial 818
A large 1m (3-foot) bronze sundial is set on a low granite dais at the center of a white granite ellipse. Surrounding the sundial are three white granite benches, the center declaring this as a memorial to Mayor James Baxter. The hour ring gives the hours from V in the morning to VII in the evening The ring is further divided into 15 minute increments. The dial has a large 24-point star and on the south end of the dial face the words "Baxter Boulevard". The artful gnomon is about 1-inch thick. Unfortunately the monument setting is heavily wooded and little sunlight reaches this fine dial.
 
 
Portland Maine USA Equatorial Dial Dial 831
Prominent in the cemetery is a large equatorial sundial about 4 ft in diameter. The dial was custom built for the location latitude and longitude. It is made of cast, anodized aluminum. The equatorial ring is 8-inch side arc with Roman numeral hours from VI to VI (6am to 6pm) with marks at 5 minute intervals. The scale is shifted to correct for longitude. The gnomon is an elegant arrow. It sits on a 4 ft plinth made of river stone, capped with a circular 6 inch block of polished granite.