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).

	Watkins Glen	New York	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 517
	A simple horizontal dial made of slate with a copper gnomon. Hour lines are brass rods artfully arranged from 6am to 6pm. The hour lines are corrected for longitude.
	Montour Falls	New York	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 516
	A beautiful bronze dial approximately 12 inches long in the shape of a shield. Below the gnomon is a rising sun. On first look, the small dial plate appears backward, with AM and PM hours reversed. However, the inclination of the gnomon is about 48 degrees, suggesting that this pedestal mounted dial is really meant to be a south facing vertical dial! The dial sits atop a circular granite pedestal about 2.5 feet in diameter.
	Winter Park	Florida	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 515
	A 12-inch diameter horizontal bronze dial set on a simple fluted pedestal. The dial face includes hour lines with half hour and ten minute marks and a central compass rose. The gnomon includes an adjusting screw allowing the gnomon angle to be set to the latitude angle. The dial is located in a small garden area of an elementary school and includes a nearby flagstone bench. The walkway around the dial is of red bricks inscribed with the names of graduating students. Students learned of the death of a 9 year old classmate and through their fundraising efforts helped establish this memorial dial in their schoolyard. A visitor's pass is required from the administration office before viewing.
	Brighton	Colorado	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 514
	This equatorial dial is one of the more distinctive Erickson Monument dials. It is octagonal about 4 feet across, made of white granite. It has a supporting stainless steel rod as gnomon. Hours from 4am to 8pm with 15 minute divisions. The hours are not rotated for longitude, placing the 12pm hour directly at nadir. Below the sundial is a plaque containing a graph of the equation of time.
	Nantucket	Massachusetts	USA	Compound Dial	Dial 513
	A combination of horizontal dial and gnomonic projection dial. The dial is about 2 x 3 feet made of DuPont Corian sitting upon a simple wood pedestal. A small horizontal dial about 8 inches in diameter with a triangular brass gnomon tells Daylight Saving Time using Roman numerals. Then a larger gnomonic dial is inscribed on the remaining surface, telling time from the shadow of the tip of the triangular gnomon. The gnomonic dial has hourly analemmas,telling time using Arabic numbers in Standard Time. Both dial lines are offset for the longitude of 70 degrees west. The gnomonic dial has declination lines for each month. A small analemma on the meridian has the letters of the months, indicating how to read the hourly analemmas depending upon the date. The dial is built to be read from the north, so the user's shadow does not interfere.
	Waukesha	Wisconsin	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 512
	A large horizontal dial in a circular plaza made of tan concrete and red brick. The concrete gnomon stands about 16 feet tall. No hour lines are drawn on the plaza, but the hours are set in a circular ring at the edge of the plaza.
	Littleton	Colorado	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 511
	The Littleton War sundial is an Erickson equatorial polar dial 6 feet in diameter made of light granite with a 3 inch steel rod as gnomon. Time is graduated by hour, half-hour, quarter hours and 5 minute marks over 24 hours. Noon is at the bottom, matching the 105 degree meridian. Designed to be read from the upper surface in Spring/Summer, from the under side in Fall/Winter. A plaque provides the Equation of Time to convert solar time to watch time. Dial is in a beautiful setting.
	Englewood	Colorado	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 510
	The Archie Lynn Chase Sundial is an equatorial polar dial. Unlike other monumental polar dials (designed by Erickson Monument Co), the dial face is more of a rounded square than a circular disk. Hours, half hours, quarter hours and five minute lines mark the time from 4am to 8pm. The hour lines are rotated for the site latitude. A steel gnomon rod about 3 inches in diameter casts the shadow. Has a plaque describing the Equation of Time.
	Torre	Coahuila	Mexico	Analemmatic Dial	Dial 509
	An analemmatic dial with major axis of 18 feet built of many different types of stone from the Torre?n Jard?n area, including white and red marble, travertine, yellow and black flagstone, and limestone. Insets of gray stone hold the hour markers from 5am to 7pm. The finished dial has been set in desert plants, native to the region, including: Candelilla, Gobernadora, Lechuguilla, Sangre de drago, Huevo de toro, Biznaga, Pitaya, Corona de espinas, Nopal rastrero, and Cardenche. These are all protected desert species. The dial has a compass rose and six disk-shaped maps at the east and west sides to show the course of sunrise/sunset across the Mexican Republic on the solstices and equinox.
	Toms River	New Jersey	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 507
	A horizontal dial about 22 feet in diameter. The dial base is stone and gravel outlined in shore juniper plants. Treated lumber, now gray through weathering, is used for the both the hour lines and the marking Roman numeral hours. Nicely fashioned with a hub of green junipers in the center surrounding a simple wood gnomon. Builder Richard Perez started off just wanting something a little different?and the sundial emerged in 1992 as the main theme of landscaping.
	Burlington	Vermont	USA	Analemmatic Dial	Dial 506
	A small table top analemmatic dial 31 x 23 inches, made of Rock Sandstone & gold-plated brass. Has sunrise and sunset seasonal markers. Date line divided into weeks.
	Claremont	California	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 505
	A 90 inch diameter spherical segment equatorial dial ten feet high of masonry construction with 3D fiberglass analemmic gnomon 40 inches long. Dial terrazzo face has hour, half-hour, quarter-hour and 5-minute marks with Roman hour numerals for PST. The 5-minute marks are one inch apart. Dial face includes analemma graphic with month dates; a plaque describes how to use the analemma graphic to select which side of the gnomon shadow to use to read time. Base perimeter has 12 ceramic plaques with Zodiacal signs. Indicated time is accurate to one minute throughout the winter and to five minutes in summer. This is remarkable because the dial is located just outside a children's playground and children routinely climb on the dial and swing from the gnomon. An animation from digital images showing the gnomon shadow motion over the course of a full year is available. Dedicated as the Ralph B. Larkin Memorial Sundial. Rev. Larkin was a retired missionary who taught science to children for 17 years in Claremont. Dr. Larkin's father was Edgar Lucien Larkin, Director of the Mt. Lowe Observatory above Los Angeles 1900-1924 using a 16-inch Alvan Clark refractor telescope, described by Alvan Clark as, "the finest telescope I ever made." Ralph Larkin often said, "I grew up with a telescope." The Mt. Lowe Observatory was destroyed in a windstorm in 1928 and the Alvan Clark refractor was moved to Ricard Observatory at the University of Santa Clara, California.
	Hillsborough	New Jersey	USA	Obelisk or Vertical Gnomon	Dial 504
	A gnomonic horizontal dial constructed in bright colors on a 20 by 14 foot concrete pad. The gnomon is a vertical steel pipe 1 meter tall with a small nodus at the top. Hour lines are marked within summer and winter solstice and equatorial lines. The dial is marked with both standard and daylight local solar time. The noon line is complemented by its analemma with the months labeled. The sundial is used by Sunnymead School to aid in the science curriculum. The sundial was designed and created by Michael Folsom-Kovarik as an Eagle Scout project. Construction began on July 20, 2002 and ended on June 28, 2003. Michael was approached by Paul Stockman (the Home and School Association's treasurer) with the idea of building a sundial at Sunnymead School. Michael then came up with the design (made to keep the sundial as a useful teaching tool for the entire school day no matter what time of year) and location. After a year and a half from planning to completion, Sunnymead Elementary has a working and accurate sundial!
	Wheaton	Maryland	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 503
	A 20 foot diameter horizontal dial in the middle of a brick patio. The gnomon, about 12 inches wide and 8 feet tall, is made of thin wood painted a verdant green and edged with molding. The dial face is a bed of flowers with hour lines of small plants, all immaculately kept by gardener and dial builder Roger Haynes. Around the circumference of the dial are Arabic number placards for each hour from 6am to 6pm. The flowers are changed seasonally for a gardener?s delight, and during the winter when the plants are dormant, the gnomon is removed and the area is used for a winter light show.
	Colorado Springs	Colorado	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 500
	An old horizontal dial approx 60 cm diameter. From 1914-1967 was located at Marksheffel Garage, relocated to Monument Valley Park in 1967. The builder may have been van Briggle Pottery, but its history is more complex: The angles of the hour lines are consistent with a latitude of 43.9° (roughly) but the present location is 38.9°. A gnomon (probably not original) was cut for 34° lat, but has now been corrected. Likewise, the whole dial had to be rotated to true north, being off by some 47°. Hour lines have eroded, and those before 6am and after 6pm radiate from the wrong side of the gnomon. The city has spent a considerable amount of money cleaning up the area, removing the shrubs that blocked sunlight and building a nice brick wall with flowerbeds, so the area looks better, but the dial is worse than ever, with vandals bending the gnomon.
	Colorado Springs	Colorado	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 499
	A vertical dial approximately one meter square, built into the wall of the 1907 Van Briggle Pottery building. This Memorial Pottery building was erected after Artus Van Briggle's death. The Van Briggle Pottery Company is now using the Midland Railway roundhouse at Hwy 24 and 21st. In addition to hour lines with Roman numerals, surrounding tiles have pictures of the zodiac. In 1994 Colorado College repaired the gnomon and added a metal equation of time plate.
	Los Altos	California	USA	Obelisk or Vertical Gnomon	Dial 498
	A triangular entry canopy 13 feet height by 128 feet wide by 26 feet deep at the Georgina Blach Intermediate School casts a shadow on the front pavement walkway. The pavement is etched with a gnomonic projection to show the hours and seasons. The dial was created by architects Lisa Gelfand and Andrew Davis who did considerable research for the dial. Their design was submitted to the school district for approval. It's a fun sundial and the students and teachers love it.
	Albany	New York	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 497
	A beautiful and well preserved vertical dial 40 x 40 inches. The sundial is on the southerly facing wall of Albany City Hall's 202 foot carillon tower, a building on the National Historic Register. The dial is marked with lines every 15 minutes; the hour lines are marked in roman numerals extending from XII in the morning to XII at night. Although the dial is in excellent condition, the gnomon is slightly bent. There is a small "signature" on the lower boarder of the brass plate, "Haight and Clark, Albany NY". Side note: The tower houses the first municipal carillon in the US (1927).
	Columbia	Missouri	USA	Cylindrical Dial	Dial 496
	A cylindrical dial 10 inches in diameter constructed of photoengraved aluminum. The elegant dial plate shows each hour line as a full analemma and lines for Central Standard and Central Daylight Time. Accompanied by seasonal lines of solstice, equinox, monthly lines and other dates during the year. Back and base of dial are constructed of PVC.
	Medicine Hat	Alberta	Canada	Equatorial Dial	Dial 495
	The Medicine Hat equatorial sundial was commissioned by the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat to commemorate its 50th anniversary (1918-1968). This is an Erickson equatorial polar dial. The dial is 6 feet 9 inches in diameter, made of pink granite, and weighs 3450 pounds. The dial is supported by an inclined stainless steel gnomon rod 3 inches in diameter, with overall length just over 6 feet. As with many of these dials, there are two equation of time plaques.
	Traverse City	Michigan	USA	Analemmatic Dial	Dial 494
	This beautiful analemmatic dial was built as part of the American Society of Landscape Architects' 100 years/100 Parks project. A colored concrete pad was poured on the north/south axis and scored joints for each month. Stainless steel plates show the name of the months. On either side of the concrete pad are dry laid flagstones with creeping thyme in the joints. Hour markers are 12 inch diameter colored concrete bases with numbers cut from stainless steel. A stained glass sun plaque at the top of the month axis was made by a local artisan. Total dial size is about 10 x 20 feet.
	Taos	New Mexico	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 493
	A copper and bronze horizontal dial about 15 x 15 inches. The dial was built by the Rocky Mountain Youth Corp, an organization the helps direct the energies of "at risk" youth. Base of dial is clad with 2x4 inch glazed tiles made by all the 5th graders in town. There is a compass rose around the base and on dedication day, an area of wet cement was available those present to make an inscription or hand print.
	Hamilton	Ontario	Canada	Vertical Dial	Dial 492
	On the outside south wall of the library, about 15 feet above the ground is a vertical dial about one meter square. Dial is declined 18 deg 6 min west. The 1pm and 8pm numbers are missing. The dial is stone with aluminum gnomon and numbers.
	Washington	District of Columbia	USA	Gnomonic or Projection Dial	Dial 491
	With a bit of whimsy at the end of each day for over two years, Dr. James Griffith marked the position of a ray of sunlight on a wall that entered from a west window overlooking the Potomac river. The result is an analemma, tracing the sun's position at 4:10 pm E.S.T. throughout the seasons. Dr. Griffith was a chemist, but as written on a plaque next to the analemma, "Exactly what this has to do with chemistry per se is not perfectly clear, but Viva Principia Scientifica!"
	Roswell	New Mexico	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 490
	A beautiful bronze sundial sits on a pillar of rough marble. It was given to the Library by the Roswell Womens Club at the turn of the 20th century. Unfortunately the dial is damaged, but the Roswell Womans Club is searching for someone to repair the dial.
	Cuencame	Durango	Mexico	Vertical Dial	Dial 489
	This vertical dial is 2m tall by 1.2 m wide and sits atop a quarried column nearly 7 m high. The gnomon on each face is approximately 60 cm long, and 16-19 mm in diameter. Each face has Roman numerals to indicate apparent solar time from 6am to 6pm. Alpha and Omega Greek letters. A carved cross at the twelve hour line. Inscribed "1904"
	Monterrey	Nuevo Leon	Mexico	Equatorial Dial	Dial 488
	This equatorial dial is just over 3 m in size, made of iron. Along the equatorial band are twelve Roman numerals to indicate apparent solar time and twelve Arabic numerals to indicate standard time. The outside of the equatorial band has zodiac constellations. There are also solstice and equinox discs at the gnomon. There is a plaque for the equation of time and an explanation of time corrections next to the sundial. The dial sits on a 1 m high stone base.
	Torreon	Coahuila	Mexico	Vertical Dial	Dial 487
	This is a stone cube 3.5 m high with four vertical dials. Each dial face is about 2.2 m high by 1.25 m wide The South and North faces have Arabic numerals to indicate solar time from 6am to 18hrs, with marks every 15 minutes. The East face has numerals from 6am to 12pm and the West face complements from 12pm to 18hrs. These faces have half hour marks. The South face has seven declination lines, constellation dates, analemma line, zodiac symbols, and equinoctial and solstice lines. A curve to indicate light and shadow hours all the year is on each face. A square base on quarry. At the north-east corner are the carved names of the designer Miguel Bertran de Quintana and builder Cirilo Nunez. Note: because of the sundial size and latitude, it was necessary to extend the four vertical faces of the sundial into the horizontal plane to indicate the summer solstice line and 11:30 and noon hours of summer.
	Des Moines	Iowa	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 486
	This large horizontal dial is approximately 6-foot square with a 4-foot gnomon. The dial face is done in two tones of marble. Time is indicated by radiating hour lines to nearly the dial's edge and graced with Roman numerals. The gnomon has an emblem of the masonic star on west side, and the masonic square and compass on the east side.
	West Des Moines	Iowa	USA	Armillary Sphere	Dial 485
	This is a 24-inch armillary sphere on top of a portion of a brass globe showing continents and latitude lines o The dial points generally south, aligned for beauty, not function. The base is aligned to a general northern direction. The time equatorial band, meridian circle and improper horizontal band are painted black. Elegant polished brass Arabic hour numbers half-hour brass time beads indicate the time on the equatorial band. Sits on a concrete column several feet high.
	Des Moines	Iowa	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 484
	A small 8-inch diameter dial of bronze with black background and highly polished Roman numbers and hour lines. An eight-point compass rose, equally well polished occupies the majority of the center. The gnomon is missing. The dial plate is set at an incorrect orientation. The dial sits on a 4-foot high fluted granite column.
	Des Moines	Iowa	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 483
	A very large and striking horizontal dial 50 feet in diameter with a 15 foot tall metal gnomon. Dial has standard time marked in brass Roman numerals and daylight saving time in smaller circular brass discs with Arabic numerals. The 16 large granite markers radiating from the center are artistic effect only and to not mark time. This large monumental dial is surrounded by a knot-garden. The dial granite base is raised 2.5 feet.The knot-garden theme is continued on the upper, center level.
	Palo Alto	California	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 482
	A vertical declining dial approximately 45 x 55 inches. Made of aluminum and brass. Shows the hours from 8 am to 5 pm using analemmas. Analemmas are bounded by the summer and winter solstices and a straight line through them shows the equinox. Daylight time is shown using Roman numerals, with standard time shown in Arabic. In keeping with the motto, a simple equation is written on the dial face, d/dt is not equal 0. Designer Ronald Bracewell used an oculus, a disk with a central hole, standing 8 cm in front of the dial face. The disk casts a shadow with a bright sunlight dot to indicate both time and season. Hour lines include longitude correction. This has been relocated; it was previously hanging free below a south facing wall, facing the Terman Engineering Building. Dial is now located on the wall of a covered walkway area.
	Honolulu	Hawaii	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 481
	An elegant vertical declining and reclining dial built on the sloping face of a large lava boulder. Total size of the dial is 4 1/2 x 6 feet and uses a half-inch thick copper gnomon 6 x 10 inches. Hour lines and numerals at 9, 12, and 3 are of brass. The dial is corrected for longitude and was designed to fit its deep valley location and orientation of the boulder. Tradition holds that these rocks have spirits and must be treated with respect.
	De Dedo	Guam	USA	Analemmatic Dial	Dial 480
	This analemmatic dial approximately 10 x 20 feet set into concrete. At the low latitude of Guam, the gnomon standing spot extends outside to ellipse of hour markers. Between April and September the shadows are very short near the noon hour and are difficult to read.
	Council Bluffs	Iowa	USA	Obelisk or Vertical Gnomon	Dial 479
	Vertical gnomon casting its shadow onto a plaza in front of the city library. Modernistic design. This dial has been scheduled for removal as of October, 2010 due to cracking and to make more green space.
	Edinburg	Texas	USA	Obelisk or Vertical Gnomon	Dial 478
	A vertical gnomon 19.58 feet tall projects its shadow onto a modernistic courtyard. The courtyard has inlays showing the hour corrected for the equation of time, give a sinuous set of curves to the hour lines.
	Colima	Colima	Mexico	Equatorial Dial	Dial 477
	A bright bronze equatorial sundial with a stainless steel equatorial band. The gnomon has an analemma for the correction of time and a colorful sunburst near the northern end of the rod.
	Santa Rosa	California	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 476
	An bronze equatorial dial about 2 feet in diameter. Stands in the middle of a Lotus flower
	Greenfield	Massachusetts	USA	Hours to Sunset	Dial 475
	A 5 foot diameter pink Canadian granite horizontal hours-until-sunset dial. The 8 inch thick granite slab weighs 2000 pounds and rests on a short recessed pedestal, appearing to float above the grass dome of a memorial garden. Lines for hour periods 2-12 are marked with Arabic numerals. The gnomon is a 3/8 inch brass rod protruding 4 inches above the dial face. The dial face is engraved, "HOURS UNTIL SUNSET" and, "READ TIP OF SHADOW." This sundial does not function in the usual manner that tells time of day. Rather, this dial tells the number of hours from the present time of day to the time of sunset. These are equal-period hours counted down until sunset. Since it shows a time period, rather than time-of-day, the dial accuracy is not affected by season of year, daylight saving time or longitude location within the local time zone. Further, this particular design uses a horizontal dial face, while most hours-until-sunset dials use a vertical face. This dial is dedicated as a memorial to Dr. Pallav Parakh, a much-loved surgeon who was killed in a tragic auto accident while walking in a crosswalk.
	Charleston	West Virginia	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 474
	A bronze equatorial sundial, about 4 feet in diameter.
	New London	Connecticut	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 473
	A horizontal dial of striking modern design about 24 inches in diameter. The dial face is granite with milled wedges, leaving hour lines from 6 am to 6 pm. Hours are represented by small round bronze markers. The gnomon is of unusual design. When installed, the gnomon had a vertical glass plate below the style. The dial doubled as a fountain - water flowed from the top of the gnomon down the glass plate. Each of the bronze hour markers also had a small spray of water. The round granite dial is slightly smaller than the octagonal pedestal and base. A small trough between them recovers water from the fountain.
	Amherst	Nova Scotia	Canada	Horizontal Dial	Dial 472
	A Centennial Dial for Amherst, this is a square horizontal dial with clean design about 18 x 18 inches. The dial face and triangular gnomon are cast bronze sitting upon a granite pedestal. The dial has hour lines and Roman numerals from IIII (morning) to VIII (evening) and tick marks for the quarter hours. An accompanying display explains the function of the sundial and contains a table for the Equation of Time, including longitudinal correction.
	Cocoa	Florida	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 471
	This is a simple equatorial dial 58 inches wide and 49.5 inches high. Because of the low latitude, the 6 inch wide equatorial band has Roman hour markings only from 7am to 5 pm. The gnomon is a thin, unadorned rod. The dial base is a square box with canted top to the Florida latitude, supporting the equatorial cross members.
	Monticello	Virginia	USA	Globe or Hemispheric	Dial 470
	A replica of Jefferson's lost dial, which he recounted in 1817, "My dial captivates every body foreign as well as home-bred, as a handsome object & accurate measurer of time." Made according to Jefferson's design, the replica dial is a 10 1/2 inch painted wood sphere with horizontal lines drawn for the equator, Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Longitudinal lines are drawn between the two tropics to indicate the hours of the day. A gnomon fixed to the poles swings around the globe until it casts the smallest meridian shadow. The original sphere was made of black locust wood but the replica is mahogany because it is "more durable, stable and easier to find." The base was originally a model of a capital, the top part of a column, that Latrobe had designed for the U.S. Capitol. It was unique, featuring ears of corn in motif. When Jefferson received the base from Latrove, "it looked bald for want of something to crown it" and so Jefferson designed a globe that "might be made to perform the functions of a dial."
	Pinawa	Manitoba	Canada	Horizontal Dial	Dial 469
	The Pinawa Heritage Sundial located in the center of town was constructed as a city wide effort to create pride and focus. The 17.5 foot high horizontal sundial has a gnomon constructed of steel and the 38.5 by 40.5 foot base is constructed of polished granite, rail, and granite stones. The sundial has two sets of time markers. An outer dial ring indicates local apparent time, while an inner dial ring indicates zonal solar time. Forming an integral part of the sundial, 12 icons were designed and constructed, illustrating the history of the region and its people.
	Niagara Falls	Ontario	Canada	Armillary Sphere	Dial 468
	A small 18 to 24 inch armillary sphere. Has a traditional arrow marking the gnomon. It sits on a pedestal in the center of the herb garden.
	Big Bay	Ontario	Canada	Analemmatic Dial	Dial 467
	This is a nicely constructed analemmatic dial, made of concrete, stone and ceramic tile. The hour markers are a series of small posts set in a continuous elliptical path with a 6 meter major axis and 4 meter minor axis. The sundial is located in a field next to a megalithic henge at Keppel Croft Farm and Gardens.
	Thunder Bay	Ontario	Canada	Analemmatic Dial	Dial 466
	A very well constructed analemmatic dial about 24 by 11 feet. The dial may be difficult to find, since it is in the center of a field that is devoted to wild grass of the area. Cement markers are used to show the hours and for the central base showing the months where to stand. The hourly markers are corrected for the longitude of Thunder Bay. The site is visited quite frequently by school children and is a great educational tool for dialing.
	Tucson	Arizona	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 465
	A simple square horizontal dial 20 x 20 inches carved in a 3 inch block of granite with a bronze gnomon. The dial has hour lines from 6am to 6pm for local solar time. No graph or table for longitude and Equation of Time corrections. Dial sits atop a 3 foot square pedestal.