Sundials of North America

This is a complete listing of sundials in the North American Sundial Society Registry. Click on any dial thumbnail picture or city name to display the full dial listing and images. To see sundials from a particular state or province, you may click on the list at right to see all registered sundials in that state, province or country (at bottom) displayed in city order.

You may also type into the NASS search field at upper right any search word such as "equatorial" to get a list of all articles mentioning equatorial dials and a list of all equatorial sundials in the registry. (Try other dial types: "vertical", "horizontal", etc).

	Starr's Point	Nova Scotia	Canada	Horizontal Dial	Dial 407
	A small horizontal dial, 8-inches in diameter. The dial is a fiberglass reproduction with metal gnomon upon a cement pedestal. The original dial dates from the 1820s and judging from the reproduction, is in very poor condition. Has Roman numerals, but the hour lines do not agree with the gnomon position. Very difficult to read. North edge of gnomon is cut to resemble a face in profile, possibly in reference to the inscription. On the grounds of the Charles Ramage Prescott House, built 1814 - 1816. Prescott was a merchant and horticulturalist.
	Windsor	Nova Scotia	Canada	Horizontal Dial	Dial 406
	A small horizontal dial with an 11-inch square base. The dial was made in 1845, but the original was damaged by vandals. There now exists a fiberglass reproduction of the dial with metal gnomon on a cast cement base. The dial has Arabic numerals indicating 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. and corresponding hour lines. The dial is located on the grounds of the Haliburton House, built in 1836 by Thomas Chandler Haliburton, a justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and author of "The Clockmaker" stories.
	Cleveland	Ohio	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 405
	A ground level horizontal dial 14 feet in diameter, with gnomon 5 ft 3 inches high. The dial is made of concrete, brick, and granite.
	Binghamton	New York	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 404
	A 20-foot in diameter horizontal dial at ground level made of concrete. Part of the campus plaza. The gnomon is also concrete, approximately 8 inches wide and 5 foot tall. Place for students of SUNY Binghamton University to congregate.
	Hamilton	New York	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 403
	A small brass horizontal dial 9 1/2 inches in diameter. Has a compass rose in the center. Hour lines branching to half hour and quarter hour. Roman numerals showing 5am to 7pm. To the south of the gnomon is a graph of the equation of time. Donated to Colgate University by Fred Sawyer. The dial sits upon a rectangular granite column.
	Mount Uniacke	Nova Scotia	Canada	Horizontal Dial	Dial 402
	A faithful fiberglass replica of an ornate bronze horizontal dial stands on the Uniacke Estate. The dial is about 40 cm diameter, with a sunburst in the center showing the 16 cardinal points and intricate markings typical of a 19th century dial. Surrounding the cardinal points is a ring engraved "Watch Faster, Watch Slower" with the equation of time. Roman numerals show the hours from V in the morning to VII at evening. This dial was made for Richard Uniacke in 1815, once the Attorney-General of Nova Scotia. The original dial may be in storage in Halifax. The inscribed latitude of 45:5N does not match the Uniacke Estate location. The wooden pedestal is in rather poor condition.
	Rockford	Illinois	USA	Armillary Sphere	Dial 401
	A large stainless steel armillary dial approximately 10 feet in diameter. The equator and sunrise/sunset meridian bands are about 6 inches wide, with other bands about 3 inches wide. The central gnomon is a stainless steel rod with an open shaped arrow point and tail. The hours on the equatorial ring are raised bronze roman numerals with 15-minute intervals marked by bronze dots. The time marks are set for daylight saving time, with sunset at VII. Marks continue to VIII
	Highland Park	Illinois	USA	Analemmatic Dial	Dial 400
	A nicely done analemmatic dial approximately 15 feet across with a grey granite zodiac walkway. The granite walkway has a central line, crossed with month marks for standing at the date of the year. An unusual feature of the dial is that the Equation of Time (EoT) correcting solar time to civil time is given at the left and right edges of the dial. On the first, tenth, and twentieth of each month the EoT is inscribed to the nearest minute. The walkway is surrounded by one row of dark brick then encompassed by a large plaza of light red brick. Embedded in the plaza are small square Roman numeral hour marks, arranged for summer viewing with 1pm set to north. The plaza is in a nicely landscape area of grass, bushes, perennials, three large pots of flowers and a bench..
	Centerport	New York	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 399
	Within the gardens of the museum is a vertical dial constructed as a very colorful wall mural.
	Fredericton	New Brunswick	Canada	Vertical Dial	Dial 397
	A vertical declining dial 7 x 7 feet with parged cement face and 5 foot wrought iron gnomon. Plaque on wall reads "The sundial at the top of this wall is a faithful reconstruction of the original which Frederictonians used during the 1800s and early 1900s. The shadow cast by the gnomon (style) onto the dial accurately displays local apparent solar time." An equation of Time is included on the plaque to determine mean time. The date of the original construction of this sundial is not known, but the Soldiers Barracks were built in 1826. The dial was restored in 1992.
	St. Louis	Missouri	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 396
	A vertical decliner at the top of the Cupples I building. Given by the class of 1908. Can be seen from the courtyard of Robert S. Brookings building. In 1908 the campus newspaper, the Washington University Student Life, commented that "The new sun dial on Cupples I is now being put into position upon the tablet on the south side of the building?It will be interesting to note the discrepancy between sun time and standard time by comparing with the Varsity clock [a large time piece situated high on the west wall of Brookings Hall, with both clock and dial visible in the quadrangle]." Today the Baumont Pavilion, erected in 1965, blocks a close view of the ornate tablet and dial. Use binoculars from a distance.
	St. Francesville	Louisiana	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 394
	A small 9 inch diameter brass horizontal dial sits on top of a cast iron pedestal. The dial face is worn, but readable with Roman numerals and 5-minute graduations. The dial plate is rotated about 40 degrees east of North. To the south of the gnomon is a 2 1/2 inch diameter mirror with unknown use. On left and right of the gnomon is scroll engraving of the equation of time. The dial sits on a 3 foot cast iron pedestal, painted adobe-red. A matching adobe-red dome cap with 8 sides covers the dial. Cap has an acorn handle lift.
	Fort Union	New Mexico	USA	Compound Dial	Dial 393
	A 2 foot square stone horizontal dial on a four foot high stone pedestal with vertical dials on its faces. This dial has been removed, replaced and relocated several times. The original gnomon was lost and replaced with an incorrect 45° gnomon, which has been replaced again with a steel gnomon that appears to be at slightly less than the correct latitude angle. All vertical dial gnomons are missing. The dial and a nearby inscribed stone are on the grounds of the Third Fort Union (1863-1891). The stone dial surfaces are worn from weather, but the Arabic hour numerals are still visible.
	Lloydminster	Alberta	Canada	Horizontal Dial	Dial 392
	At 197 feet in diameter, this is one of the largest horizontal dials in North America. It's location is on the 4th meridian at 110:0 west, a line that separates Alberta and Saskatchewan and divides the city of Lloydminister in half. The gnomon is constructed from 8 inch black schedule 40 - carbon steel pipe that is painted yellow. It is 23 feet in length and is supported on a reinforced concrete base 30 inches wide and 8 feet long. It is surrounded by massive boulders partially buried in the ground. The giant hour lines are made of pavers laid on a sand and gravel base. The raised hour numbers are sandblasted on 16 inch square treated timber posts that are mounted in concrete.
	Louisbourg	Nova Scotia	Canada	Horizontal Dial	Dial 391
	A small horizontal dial 28 cm in diameter on a limestone pedestal. The dial shows local hours with half-hour lines from 4 am to 8 pm in Roman numerals. Trefoils are interspersed with the hour labels. A south-pointing crescent or moon sits across the sub-style and a representational daisy or sun sits below the center of the dial. The base is a limestone pedestal 85 cm tall. The base is a limestone pedestal 85 cm tall. The dial is located in the Fortress of Louisbourg run by the Parks of Canada. The dial is a modern reproduction of a slate dial excavated at the site.
	Branford	Connecticut	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 390
	This large equatorial dial was created as part of a community effort to establish a Natural Habitat park for the town of Branford. The dial is 7 x 6 x 6 feet made of Stony Creek granite and stainless steel, weighing 13,000 pounds. The granite is indigenous to the town. The face of the stone is cut at approximately 41 degrees to match the site latitude, inspired by a design from Robert Adzema "The Great Sundial Cutout Book". Dial shows time from 7 am until 5 pm.
	Bumble Bee	Arizona	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 389
	Horizontal dial approximately 10 feet in diameter. Made of concrete and granite. Commemorates Arizona Dept. of Transportation employees who were killed in the line of duty.
	Guaymas	Sonora	Mexico	Equatorial Dial	Dial 388
	Dial is of stone, carved in a thick semi-circle ring about 200 degrees in extent. Dial is 36 inches in diameter and 10 inches thick. The inner rim of the dial is a "vee" shape. The gnomon is an iron rod protruding from the equatorial ring at the 12-hour mark, and at the center of the ring turns at a right angle to align to the north pole. The massive stone dial is set on a masonry block pedestal 40x40x20 inches. The pedestal is neither level nor cardinal.
	Jackson	Mississippi	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 387
	A large, 4-foot (1.2m) brass horizontal dial with clean lines. Time is marked in quarter hours from 5AM to 7PM. Hours are in Roman numerals. Dial sits in the middle of an octagon dais supported on a square concrete block. The gnomon is a simple blade, but the engraving on the dial says "Lat 39.3 N" and is clearly wrong. The dial honors Billy Jim Thompson for his support of the Academy. He died in 2014 at the age of 91.
	Pine Mountain	Georgia	USA	Analemmatic Dial	Dial 386
	Interactive analemmatic dial set in an herb garden. Visit website
	Dallas	Texas	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 385
	This is large horizontal dial with a 20-foot-long polar gnomon that rises obliquely from the center of a 34-foot-diameter circle. The hour lines are embedded in the terrazzo pavement showing hour marks and quarter hour ticks. Hour labels (standard time 6-7 and daylight-saving time 7-8) are etched into 12-inch diameter stainless steel plates, each tipped toward the dial's center and supported on a 6-inch-high bollard. The tick marks run further, extending from 5:30am to 7:15 standard time. Hour marks and labels are offset for site longitude, making the time correction between solar and civil time no more than +/- 15 minutes, depending on season. The stainless-steel gnomon has a rectangular cross section that tapers from 12 x 4 inches at the base to 4 x 4 inches at the upper end. The center of the gnomon's shadow (not the shadow's edge) indicates the time. The terrazzo circular plaza is slightly beveled (a squat cone) for proper runoff of rain. The cone's apex coincides with the base of the gnomon and is 10 inches higher than the circumference of the 34-foot circle. The layout of time lines takes this radially sloping surface into account. The terrazzo pavement also includes an embedded polar map of the world adjusted in longitude so that the longitude of Dallas with a star at the dial's location in Texas is due south of the gnomon.
	East Lansing	Michigan	USA	Analemmatic Dial	Dial 384
	This garden analemmatic dial uses plants to mark time with plants selected to demonstrate bio-rhythms by their daily opening and closing at different times. Four-o'clocks are planted at the 4 block. Magic evening primroses 'Tina James' encircle the area. Flowers open in 15 seconds to the sunlight, quite a spectacular sight! Also planted here are: Evening Primroses, Portulaca 'Sundial', Coreopsis 'Sunray', Morning Glory, Thyme, Four-O'clock, and Moonvine. Children cast their shadow to tell the time. Step between the blocks of the current month, raise your right hand, and your shadow tells the time. The analemmatic dial is set up for daylight saving time.
	Syracuse	New York	USA	Armillary Sphere	Dial 382
	A 10 foot 2 inch diameter armillary sundial made of black anodized steel. The equatorial band is created by two narrow bands holding in open space 10-inch gold colored Roman numerals to grace each hour from 6am to 6pm. The gnomon is a traditional rod with gold arrow and tail flute. The armillary has arctic and antarctic circles, and a prime vertical that extends only to the horizon circle. The prime meridian has 12 gold flowers spaced every 30 degrees. The dial weighs about 8000 lbs and sits on a small concrete base.
	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 381
	A direct south cast or wrought iron vertical dial on a brick building.
	Villahermosa	Tabasco	Mexico	Compound Dial	Dial 380
	A "Gnomonicon", or multi-indication dial, made of concrete, aluminum, brass and copper. The dial stands approximately 5 feet high and has multiple solar time dials in many orientations plus a flat equatorial, a concave equatorial, a revolving equatorial and a rare spherical dial. Also a solar calendar and representations of the ecliptic and the zodiac.
	Ypsilanti	Michigan	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 379
	A 10x15 foot vertical wall dial mounted on a stucco wall. The dial is tile with an aluminum gnomon. This dial atop Sherzer observatory has been relined and renumbered several times. The dial has a brass gnomon. The newer campus landmark is visible from as far away as Wasahtenaw Avenue. The dial was designed and built by Thad Weakley as an independent study project under professor Dr. Jon K Wooley (it earned Thad 3 credits!)
	Westminister	Vermont	USA	Shadow Plane Dial	Dial 378
	A large shadow plane approximately 10 ft across with a nylon cord for a gnomon. Hour points are painted on the dial. To read local apparent time on this sundial, the user must hold the gnomon cord taut and move until its shadow falls across the center of the dial. The entire dial lies south of the cord's point of attachment.
	Highland Park	Illinois	USA	Polar Dial	Dial 377
	This cast iron polar dial is centered in a 7 foot diameter, echoing the form of a "train wheel", matching the theme of a small park situated between a historic train station on the ancient Green Bay Trail and a pioneer cemetery. The polar dial has raised hour lines on the cast iron plate. Designed by Stephen Luecking and built at St. Mary's Foundry.
	Lafayette	Indiana	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 376
	An 8 foot high equatorial dial of welded stainless steel with a brass gnomon and brass equatorial ring. The 60 inch diameter equatorial ring is engraved with hour marks and Roman numerals. Dial was commissioned by the cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette in celebration of the Millennium. Dial sits atop a short concrete pedestal.
	Hibbing	Minnesota	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 375
	An 8 ft high equatorial sundial designed and built by David Aho. Made of welded stainless steel with a brass gnomon and brass equatorial arc dial. The 60 inch diameter equatorial dial is engraved.
	St. Mary's City	Maryland	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 374
	Cement half-cylinder acting as an equatorial time ring with an inside radius of about 18 inches and a concrete gnomon 5 inches thick that looks more like a piece of lumber set on edge than a gnomon. There is no nodus such that the gnomon shadow is a straight line on the wide equatorial band. The cylindrical inner face is stainless steel with an engraved grid of quarter hours and months. The hours are marked in Arabic every half hour and at every hour is a graphical curve of the equation of time (EOT). Using the time of month, one reads across from the month mark to the EOT, giving the time offset. All in all, a very clear way of integrating the EOT with the hourly shadow.
	Hollywood	Maryland	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 373
	A 26 inch hexagonal, English-made slate horizontal dial with a 3/8-inch thick, knife-edge bronze gnomon and no noon gap. Dial face has hour, half-hour and quarter-hour marks in inner bands, and 3-minute marks in the outer band. Hours are marked with Roman numerals. The dial sits on a hexagonal pedestal carved with coats-of-arms of families that lived at the plantation, including the Plater, Briscoe and Satterlee families. The dial face has four concentric bands of hour numerals. The outer band reads local time with an inscription that notes local noon is also noon at Boston, Peru and C. Redondo, and midnight at Borneo and Chinese Tartary. The second band shows noon in New Zealand, London and other locations. Two additional inner bands show noon in still other cities around the world. The plantation house overlooking the Patuxent River was constructed between 1710 and 1717 by James Bowles. Bowles died in 1727 and Sotterley Plantation passed through Plater and Briscoe ownership. The plantation was bought by Herbert L. Satterlee in 1910 and restored, including his vision of an 18th century garden in which he placed this sundial, received as a gift, in 1925. Admission fee is required. Call 301-373-2280 for hours.
	Bowie	Maryland	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 372
	A small vertical stone dial with a weathered wood gnomon is mounted with iron brackets to the wall of Sacred Heart Chapel. The dial is about 26 inches wide by 16 inches high. The inscribed longitude of 00 deg 20 min East is correct for the United States Prime Meridian which goes approximately up 16th Street in Washington DC. In 1853, fire destroyed everything but the walls of the chapel; it was reconstructed in 1858. The present stone dial is reported to have been made by Francis J. Deutsch, Sr., replacing and duplicating the original. See NASS Compendium Vol. 5, No. 3, Sept., 1998. The whole dial is now covered with white paint and the gnomon which is set at 42? is placed upside down. The wall is 7? SE but the dial was designed for true south.
	Denver	Colorado	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 371
	The horizontal stone dial face is about 45 inches across, and is raised eight inches above ground level. It is inscribed with hours from IV to VIII. The dial was created about 1974 in memory of Persis McMurtrie Owen, who designed the west herb garden of the Botanic Gardens in 1964. See NASS Compendium Vol. 6 No. 2, June 1998
	Guelph	Ontario	Canada	Horizontal Dial	Dial 370
	On the Sunnyside Estate front entrance is a small horizontal dial on a white pedestal surrounded by a flower garden. The original of this sundial is reputed to be the one that was mounted on the stump of the tree felled by John Galt in his ceremonial founding of Guelph on April 23rd, 1827. The original dial and pedestal were carved from Guelph limestone, and are in very poor condition. They were moved indoors during renovations in 1979. A replica now stands in the original position. See NASS Compendium Vol. 6 No. 3, Sept. 1999.
	Reston	Virginia	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 369
	A modernistic seven foot diameter flagstone horizontal dial with hour lines. The design features a gnomon of folded stainless steel plate. Gnomon is truncated too short for shadow to reach edge of dial face. See "Sightings" in NASS Compendium Vol. 6 No. 4, Dec 1999.
	Denver	Colorado	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 368
	On the southwest side of the Emerson School Building (now an office building and historic landmark) is a large white stone vertical dial with a stone gnomon. The large stone dial is part of the original brick building erected in 1884. Local history holds that the original architect was somewhat staid and stuffy and only agreed to include the sundial "because of its educational value." The dial was restored when the building was refurbished. See "Sightings" in NASS Compendium Vol. 6 No. 4, Dec 1999.
	Casper	Wyoming	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 367
	The horizontal dial is a bronze circle 13.4 inches in diameter with raised lines and numbers and mounted on an iron plate on a pedestal of green stone. The angle of the gnomon is roughly 20 degrees, and the hour lines are designed for a latitude of about 22 deg, clearly not designed for Casper's latitude of 43 deg N. See "Sightings" in NASS Compendium Vol. 6 No. 4, Dec 1999. Pedestal is of the same green stone as the Planetarium building.
	Dummerston	Vermont	USA	Hours to Sunset	Dial 366
	This 4 x 8 foot vertical dial declines 8.4° west of south and displays "Italian Hours". Located on the southern gable of a hanger along a grass strip airport (fondly called the "Dummerston International"), the dial serves to tell pilots how many hours remain before sunset. The dial is painted board with vinyl lines, letters and numerals. A sign at the base explains how to read the dial. The dial was built by Mac Oglesby and Eliot Kimble. A smaller 2 x 2 foot vertical decliner is located on the western side of the hanger building as well. It too shows Italian hours.
	Westminster	Vermont	USA	Compound Dial	Dial 365
	This whimsical dial looking like a cut-out face is actually an East and West Vertical dial and a Polar dial. It stands about 4 feet high, and is built out of 1 inch steel plate fabricated in Windsor VT and installed on the Westminster West School grounds on a buried concrete pier. Near noon, a beam of sunlight shining through an "ear" indicates the date.
	Toronto	Ontario	Canada	Equatorial Dial	Dial 364
	The face of this equatorial dial is an arc of a sphere 2 meters in diameter. A nodus on the polar gnomon casts a shadow indicating solar declination. Aligned with the dial is a 15 meter meridian line which passes through the site of the transit instrument of the former Toronto Observatory.
	Charleston	South Carolina	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 361
	A 20 foot stone monument with a 2 foot diameter vertical recliner dial. See the NASS Compendium Vol.6 No. 1 Dec 1998. The platform in the base includes stones from the thirty-eight home states of those lost. Imbedded in the in the platform is a bronze arrow, pointing to the unmarked grave in the Atlantic.
	DeLand	Illinois	USA	Pillar Dial	Dial 360
	Granite four-dialed pillar about 5 foot high, possibly dating from the mid 17th century. Purportedly found in 1650 in Tinturn, Monmouthshire, England, and consistent with the dial latitude of 52 N. Dial face is 18 x18 inches. Gnomons on both east and west sides are turned off its original declination. A gift from Robert H. Allerton. The dial is well-traveled, and was brought to the United States in 1890 by the John Wanamaker stores. The fascinating history of this dial can be found in NASS Compendium Vol. 6 No. 1, Dec., 1998.
	Sudbury	Ontario	Canada	Armillary Sphere	Dial 359
	A monumental half armillary dial in stainless steel. At one end of 'Polaris Boulevard' which includes Terra, a segment of the globe oriented with Sudbury directly at the top. Celeste is a giant (12.8 meter or 42-foot) stainless steel sundial located at the south end of Polaris Boulevard. It consists of two arches, one which represents the equator in the sky, and one which represents the meridian. A large steel pipe makes up the gnomon of the sundial.
	Columbus	Ohio	USA	Sculpture/Artwork	Dial 357
	"Hora Novem" An unusual 'solar calendar water sculpture' incorporating water jets which converge at center of a 17ft equatorial ring.
	Durham	North Carolina	USA	Noon Mark or Meridian Dial	Dial 356
	Called "Gnomon", this large sculpture consisting of two monoliths made of steel-reinforced concrete slabs laid nearly next to each other along one edge. This produces a thin slit between them,with both leaning against a third slab. If one could look down on this from an airplane, it appears as an arrowhead pointing south. At local noon, sunlight passing through the slit falls on the edge of the third slab.
	Flemington	New Jersey	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 355
	Horizontal dial with an intricately hand cut stainless steel gnomon with a cast bronze dial face. The shadow casting style is the lower edge of the large gnomon. A second short gnomon indicates solstice and equinox dates. Dial sits atop a 700 lb stone pedestal base.
	St. Louis	Missouri	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 354
	A horizontal dial sculpture called "Child Sundial" depicts a daydreaming child figure playing with a sundial gnomon that is part of a working sundial. The gnomon is about 5 1/2 inches high and the hour lines are adjusted to show standard time in St. Louis. The sculpture and dial are at ground level surrounded by a bed of creeping thyme, perhaps a gentle Herb garden pun. Statue constructed of lead, 12 x 21 inches
	Augusta	Georgia	USA	Analemmatic Dial	Dial 353
	An elegant analemmatic dial approximately 12 feet long laid in granite into the brick Riverwalk esplanade. The hours are Roman numerals set in an elliptical ribbon. The hour marks extend from 6am to 8pm and are offset for daylight saving time as well as a 28 minute longitude correction, The walkway is nicely marked, and at the base has the outline of two shoes and instructs "Stand on Date".
	Little Rock	Arkansas	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 352
	The Arkansas Sesquicentennial Sundial. Monumental horizontal dial in a 40 ft square patio made of stones from significant sites of the world. The gnomon is 17 feet high by 21.5 ft. long. The sundial won First Place in the International Bricklayers & Allied Craftsmens Union - presented every 5 years. It featured an outer adornment of brick contributed from over 70 nations. SUNDIAL WAS DESTROYED and no longer exists - Apr 2002