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).

	Amarillo	Texas	USA	Obelisk or Vertical Gnomon	Dial 67
	The Centennial Time Tower begins as a tetrahedron of stainless steel pipes each 18 feet long. Then a central pipe towers to the sky, giving an overall height of about 50 feet. The Time Tower is situated on a circle about 100 feet in diameter. The dial was erected for the hundredth anniversary of the discovery of Helium. Each individual pipe is a time capsule filled with helium. The plaque under the center of the tower shows when each one is to be opened.
	Trois Rivieres	Quebec	Canada	Vertical Dial	Dial 66
	A declining vertical dial approximately 6 feet wide and 8 feet tall of painted wood. Diol declines 58? west of south. Dial includes a two-lined analemma noon mark that shows noon corrected for EOT. Hour lines with Roman numerals show local time from 10 AM to 7 PM. Dial is located about 30 feet high on a wall, above an alcove with a statue of the Virgin Mary. The gnomon length is correct for the shadow of the tip to fall on the noon mark. Dial furniture includes a lunar crescent and a depiction of a beaver carrying a tree branch, in a classic French tradition and similar to dials of Zarbula's overall design.
	Stanstead	Quebec	Canada	Horizontal Dial	Dial 65
	A horizontal dial "sculptural triptych" called "Zig-Zag". Three steel pipes 8x15x13 feet define the sundial. The shadow from its highest point will run along the lower horizontal section exactly E-W at the equinoxes. Stainless steel bolts on the horizontal section serve as hour markers to that time is recorded throughout the year, with the first section of the zigzag serving as the gnomon. The dial-sculpture was funded in part by a 1991 award of a Vermont Community Fund Grant. See NASS Compendium Vol. 1 No. 2, May 1994
	Oberlin	Ohio	USA	Sun Alignment	Dial 63
	When is a flag pole more than a flag pole? When it has cement walkway curved for the summer solstice, a path for the winter solstice and a distinguishing straight cement line for the spring and fall equinox. This dial has no hour markers, and is intended to show the seasons. The tip of the flag pole will follow these lines at the appropriate day of the season.
	London	Ontario	Canada	Heliochronometer	Dial 62
	A brass Pilkington-Gibbs heliochronomer aligned to the celestial equator. Rotate the helioscope until the sun shines from the upper hole to the lower plate, then read the time from an accompanying dial. The Pilkington-Gibbs dial includes a patented cam mechanism to adjust for the Equation of Time.
	Great Falls	Montana	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 61
	A monumental bow-string equatorial dial of curved 4x6 inch welded steel I-beams forming a 14 foot diameter equatorial arc. Stainless steel Roman hour numerals 5 AM to 7 PM are welded to the arc. Metal for the dial was once used at Rainbow Dam and was formed and welded at Rainbow Powerhouse.
	Rochester	New York	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 60
	A large 40 foot equatorial dial. The dial band is about 5 feet wide with raised Roman numerals at each hour mark. The gnomon is a rod approximately 15 feet long, ingeniously suspended by wires at the center of the dial. No shadow of the support wires can be seen, just the line of the gnomon appears on the dial band.
	Highland Park	Illinois	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 55
	A cast bronze horizontal dial with hour, half-hour and quarter-hour lines and Roman hour numerals for 5AM to 7PM. Dial face symbol depicts a winged hourglass.
	St. Louis	Missouri	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 54
	This modernistic vertical south declining dial was designed by Mel Meyer and installed in 1989. The dial is an 8 by 10 foot stainless steel sundial with ribbed hour lines. No numerals are used. The gnomon is a solid triangle 3.5 inches wide by 85 inches high.
	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.
	Gaithersburg	Maryland	USA	Polar Dial	Dial 51
	Briggs Commemorative Sundial. One of the more complex and elaborate ones in the US. The dial plate lies parallel to the earth's axis of rotation. The dial has three gnomons. The upper and lower point out Eastern Standard time, the middle one indicates local apparent (solar) time throughout the year. A copy of the brochure is in the NASS Archives.
	Stow	Massachusetts	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 48
	The dial was originally high on the south gable of a stone building called the Apple Barn that was located on the grounds of Stow's Center School. Extensive renovations and new buildings were done in 2010 and the Apple Barn itself had to be demolished. The dial was moved to the south-facing wall of the new school's southernmost wing. The dial has hour lines from 6am to 6pm with Roman numerals at each hour. The gnomon radiates from a plain diamond in the center of the dial and the dial face is constructed of white painted clabbered wood.
	Heber City	Utah	USA	Cylindrical Dial	Dial 47
	A 10 inch wide, cylindrical-segment equatorial dial 8 inches high, fabricated from a section of large PVC pipe. The dial face is aluminum sheet bonded to the PVC pipe and marked by photochemical engraving with hour lines showing analemmas to correct for EOT; hour lines are corrected for longitude and show both standard and daylight saving Arabic hour numerals. Winter and summer solstices and equinoxes are marked. The gnomon is a pointed brass rod. Instructions for use are included on dial face.
	Cambridge	Massachusetts	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 45
	Painted Dial
	Foxboro	Massachusetts	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 43
	Very large vertical dial mounted above the entrance to the Foxboro Research Center. With solstice and equinox lines and a noon analemma.
	Danvers	Massachusetts	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 42
	An east- declining vertical wood dial above the main doorway of the Rebecca Nurse House. Rebecca Nurse was a victim of the Salem witch trials in 1692. The House was restored in 1909 and it is believed this dial was added at that time; there is no evidence the house originally had a sundial.
	Boston	Massachusetts	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 41
	Once high on east facing wall of the Old State House, was a vertical declining sundial originally built in 1713. The 6x4 foot dial was just above the third story window. It was restored by R.N. Mayall in 1957. But the background became a faded blue and hour lines were hard to see. At least the Roman numerals along edge were clearly visible. In the upper left corner of dial, just above the gnomon,was a small yellow sun.
	Andover	Massachusetts	USA	Armillary Sphere	Dial 40
	A very large and ornate armillary sphere, approximately 8 feet in diameter. Sculpted by Paul Manship in 1928 and cast by Alexis Rudier Fondeur in Paris. The armillary has large figures inside the sphere at the base and the equatorial circle has signs of the zodiac in raised metalwork. The dial sits atop a well proportioned light granite pillar that is about 3 foot high and 4 foot diameter.
	Dodge City	Kansas	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 39
	Two horizontal dials side by side, one for Central Standard Time and one for Mountain Standard Time. The CST dial shows hour lines for 7 AM to 7 PM, the MST dial shows 6 AM through 6 PM. Corrected for longitude. Each dial is approximately 13 meters in diameter. In front of the dials is a large concrete plaque with the equation of time and analemma. The analemma is represented as summer on top and late months (Feb, Jul) on right. This is not the way it would be viewed in the traditional series of photos nor is it the way a shadow would be traced. The width is exaggerated, presumably to allow a better reading of the minutes of time. The paint is peeling badly.
	Bloomington	Indiana	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 38
	A small horizontal dial, about 18 inches in diameter. The dial plate is tilted 2 deg to the horizon to allow water run-off. However, more unusual is the base that contains a hand crank connected to a scalloped drum that tilts the entire dial to adjust for the Equation of Time. The drum is rotated to the current date and the drum edge pushes a cam that tilts the plane of the horizontal face so that standard time is indicated to within half a minute. The dial is actually mounted on an equatorial axis. Since 1979 the dial has gone into a state of disrepair and is overgrown by bushes.
	Orlando	Florida	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 37
	This plain dial formed on a concrete base has an elegant gnomon, designed with an interior curve and oval. But alas, don't go to Florida to find it. Sometime in 2013 as Harcourt closed its Florida office, the new tenet had no use for the sundial and had it scheduled for demolition.
	Lake Wales	Florida	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 36
	Beautiful vertical dial, approx 12x6 foot of Georgia marble with a brass gnomon approx 5 foot long. Declination lines present. Hour & half hour lines with hours in Roman numerals. Sunburst pattern above gnomon. From the Guidebook, published by the Garden: 'The famous sundial carved on the south wall of the Tower indicates the latitude and longitude of Iron Mountain. It is known as an erect declining dial as it stands vertically at an exact right angle with the surface of the earth... and does not face directly south but is tilted towards the east with a declination of 4 degrees, 20 minutes.' It has an Equation of time chart and shows the days of the months as well. Directions are to 'Add minutes shown for each day to obtain Eastern Standard Time.'
	Swarthmore	Pennsylvania	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 35
	Modern design for a vertical dial declining 20.5 deg east on a stone block wall. The gnomon is a right-angled sheet of bronze, casting shadows onto granite hour marks from 6am to 4pm. The dial was designed by Marti Cowan using Waugh's formulae for vertical dials. Frederick Orthlieb, professor and chair of the Dept of Engineering at Swarthmore "had a part in locating the bent-plate gnomon so as to give correct indications on the vertical wall. As installed, the gnomon's indicating edge (which lies on a Polar Axis) casts quite a short shadow in Autumn and Winter and requires some observing skill to make a close estimate of indicated time, but in Spring and Summer the longer shadow moves over the granite hour marks very plainly." A double-line mark at 11am indicates noon during Daylight Saving Time. The second mark is slightly askew if one looks carefully.
	Washington	District of Columbia	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 34
	A cathedral landmark. 6 foot rectangular crypt with a 2 foot circular horizontal dial in bronze. Adjoining the dial is a cross noon marker that casts its shadow onto the crypt with major Christian holidays marked through the year. Gnomon has a folded shape of 2 cm width but the hour lines form only one dial center although the space at noon gap is 1 cm.
	New Haven	Connecticut	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 30
	Vertical dial on Sterling Library. Rectangular stone with hour lines and Arabic numbers. Gnomon is a plain rod emanating from a sunburst. Stonework shows it to be built into the wall of the library.
	Mystic	Connecticut	USA	Armillary Sphere	Dial 29
	This armillary dial with a sailing ship weather vane is on the cover photo of Albert Waugh's book "Sundials - Their Theory and Construction" (paperback edition). The dial sits atop a short stone platform outside of the Treworgy Planetarium, on the grounds of the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT. To correct solar time to clock time, the dial has an Equation of Time table at the base. The armillary sphere underwent a restoration in the summer of 2015, removing corrosion, repainting the dial structure and equatorial band, and re-stencilling the longitude degree markings.
	Hartford	Connecticut	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 28
	A bronze equatorial dial presented to the college as a gift from the class of 1889. For its age, it is in remarkably good condition. The 3 foot wide by 2 foot tall half cylinder is engraved with both hour and declination lines. At the noon-equinox point of the dial face a perpendicular pole rises to the centerline of the cylinder and supports a N-S gnomon rod. Unfortunately the southern portion of the rod is missing. The base is a square, tapered pillar.
	Hartford	Connecticut	USA	Polyhedral Dial	Dial 27
	This is an 18th century polyhedral dial (dodecahedron). The dial was originally located at The Abbey, Storrington, Sussex, England. Carved stone with ten dials on a dodecahedral, some sunken, some planar. Pillar is about 12 ft. high.
	Cincinnati	Ohio	USA	Armillary Sphere	Dial 26
	This is an unusual armillary sphere without the standard gnomon rod, allowing the dial to be adjusted easily to tell civil time. As generally expected of an armillary or equatorial sundial, there is an equatorial time ring (16 inches in diameter) with engraved hourly time marks fastened to a meridian ring. But for this dial the equatorial and meridian ring assembly rotates on a polar axis. The dial functions as a Pilkington & Gibbs Heliochronometer: A small hole with lens where the equatorial and meridian rings meet allows a focused spot of sunlight to fall upon the opposite side of the rings where there is a plaque engraved with an analemma and associated monthly and day marks along the curve. This assembly is an analemmic alidade, allowing the user to align the spot of sun to an offset along the analemma curve of date that adjusting the sundial for the equation of time and longitude off time zone meridian. Civil time is read on the equatorial ring from a marker located on a fixed meridian. Knowing the month and approximate day, the dial can be read to the nearest minute.
	Bloomfield	Connecticut	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 25
	Vertical dial on an eight ton granite cube, 4 foot (1,2m) on a side. Three vertical dials carved into the east, south and west sides. All three gnomons are missing A similar CIGNA cube dial is in Los Angeles, Union Square. Both dials owned by CIGNA Insurance Co.
	Denver	Colorado	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 24
	Large Erickson equatorial monument dial. It consists of a disc of pink granite about 6 feet in diameter and 6 inches thick, tilted on edge to align with the earth's equator. The gnomon is a stainless steel rod approximately 3 inches in diameter, piercing the disc at 90 degrees. It supports the disc from below, and protrudes about 2-3 feet above the disc; far enough that it casts a shadow on the face of the disc all summer. Winter shadows fall on the back side of the dial, also engraved with hour lines.
	Tempe	Arizona	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 23
	A horizontal dial from Picture Rock Sandstone with 24k gold-plated inlaid brass fittings, 25 inches wide by 36 inches long, with gnomon 12.5 inches high. Gnomon is 1.5 inches thick. Total sundial weight 110 lbs.
	Arvada	Colorado	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 22
	A large horizontal dial of brick and stone with a formed structural steel gnomon in the form of a modern sculpture. Roman numeral hour marks doe DST are on raised brick pillars.
	Colma	California	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 21
	This large ground-level horizontal dial is 40 ft. diameter. Formerly a floral dial with a cypress tree as gnomon and hour lines crafted out of plants such as santilina shrubs. During the 1960's the dial was changed to concrete and aluminum. Now approaching 2020, the concrete dial has a brick surround. Time is marked by large Roman numerals and hour lines in an interior chapter ring. The gnomon is a supported beam with a graceful shaped tip. It may be aluminum, but shows signs of weathering.
	San Francisco	California	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 20
	Known as the "Navigators' Dial", this sundial is dedicated to three early explorers of the California coast. The dial itself is a sliced bronze globe of the earth sitting on the back of a tortoise. Overall, the globe hemisphere is about 2 1/2 feet in diameter, showing the world in relief centered on California. The flat face of the hemisphere is a beautiful vertical reclining dial. The dial sits atop a cylindrical stone column.
	San Diego	California	USA	Vertical Dial	Dial 19
	Above the southwest entrance of the Chemistry-Geology Building is a vertical declining dial built by Richard L. Threet in 1979. The dial uses thin aluminum tubing as a gnomon to cast shadows on a ring of hour and half hour lines approximately 9 feet in diameter. The lines were originally painted black on the white concrete wall with only the 9 am, 12 noon, 3 pm and 6 pm lines boldly numbered. Since then the dial has lost all but the 12.
	Riverside	California	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 18
	An equatorial dial 47 inches in diameter made of stainless steel. It sits upon four sleek pillars setting on a concrete rise. The gnomon rod has a round disk with a hole to act as a nodus. The dial equatorial band has solstice and equinox lines, as well as a line showing the declination of the sun marked with by months and zodiac signs. Hour lines are marked by raised stainless steel Roman Numerals. Dial is corrected to Pacific Standard Time.
	Berkeley	California	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 16
	A classic horizontal dial 16 inch diameter (41cm) made of bronze. Gnomon is 8 in. (29cm) long, 5 in. (13cm)high. Donated in 1915 by Class of 1877. Nicely engraved Roman hour numerals and delineated every 5 minutes. On the dial face is an Equation of Time table by date. The dial sits atop a marble pedestal, 4 foot (1.2m) high.
	Tucson	Arizona	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 14
	A 25 inch circular engraved horizontal dial in a large irregular stone. Surrounding the dial on the stone are zodiacal signs and a beautiful engraved drawing of the surrounding mountains. The designer, John Carmichael, calls these dials "horizontal string heliochronometers" since the gnomon is a brass cable held very straight under tension from a heavy counterweight which is suspended from a brass hinged lever.
	Tucson	Arizona	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 12
	This concrete and adobe brick horizontal dial is approximately 8 1/2 feet in diameter with a triangular gnomon 25 x 32 inches. This is a large, but very plain sundial except for the shiny chrome plated gnomon. It lacks numerals, but has hour points and shows the cardinal points. The dial is corrected for longitude. The pedestal is missing some bricks and is adorned with graffiti.
	Tucson	Arizona	USA	Sun Alignment	Dial 11
	A "Stonehenge" or sun circle dial designed by Chris Tanz, Susan Holman, Paul Edwards and with the help of Will Grundy and sponsored by the Pima County Flood Control and Transportation Dept. The structure uses a broken circle of walls to create designs made of light based on the movement of the sun. The circle, 50 feet in diameter with 8 foot walls is modeled loosely on the Casa Rinconada kiva ruins in Chaco Canyon, N.M. The walls are of integrally colored concrete block, concrete, and flagstone. Lines on a bronze plaque indicate north and south and the direction of sunrise and sunset on the equinoxes and solstices. Holes in the wall do the same. Solar noon is marked when sunlight comes through a slot in the South wall and passes a line on the floor.
	Ottawa	Ontario	Canada	Horizontal Dial	Dial 10
	A bronze 12 inch diameter horizontal dial with hour lines from 4 AM to 8 PM and engraved Roman hour numerals and compass rose. This restoration was donated by Thomas Ritchie who remembered from his youth that the original dial was accidentally destroyed during the construction of the Parliament Library in 1872. The restored dial was unveiled May 19, 1921 by the Governor General, Sir Victor Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire.Dial sits atop light granite pillar approximately 18 inches diameter and 40 inches high.
	Sun City	Arizona	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 8
	A monumental horizontal dial in a gravel rock garden. Gnomon is 22 feet high, 40 feet long built from a structural steel "I" beam 64 feet long. Gnomon is supported by three concrete triangular legs and is encased in concrete with four shadow-casting style edges. A circular concrete walkway under the gnomon has painted Roman numeral hour markers.
	Phoenix	Arizona	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 7
	This large ground-level horizontal dial designed by Charles Keener. Dial is a circular concrete slab 62 in. diameter and 8 in. thick. The gnomon is 30 in. high, 41 in. substile, 55 in. stile. Dial has Roman numerals. Unfortunately, the 6AM and 8AM numerals are missing. Ground level dial composed of concrete slab 62 inch diameter and 8 inch thick.
	Westbury	New York	USA	Polyhedral Dial	Dial 5
	An old polyhedral dial set atop a tall stone column on the grounds of Old Westbury Gardens.
	Tucson	Arizona	USA	Equatorial Dial	Dial 4
	A bronze equatorial dial approximately 2 ft. in diameter designed by R. Newton Mayall. Mayall stated, "When I was asked to design the sundial in front of the Museum at Kitt Peak I was more than pleased, for it gave me a chance to work a semblance of astronomy into it. The design reflects the great telescope nearby, with its base and fork type mounting, the dial itself being the "telescope"."
	Flagstaff	Arizona	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 2
	Small bronze horizontal dial with a coarse chapter ring and Roman hour numerals. The gnomon is done as a gryphin. It was a gift from the observatory staff to Dr. Lowell. In a thank you note to his staff, Lowell stated, "Nothing could have pleased me more than that Sundial clothed with its mountain cloak, symbolic of when the sun always shines. It shall be inscribed with all your names and set up on the top of Mars Hill." The original square stone base is replaced by an irregular column of stone and concrete. The square plinth at top still supports the small horizontal dial.
	Carefree	Arizona	USA	Horizontal Dial	Dial 1
	A 90 ft. diameter horizontal dial with a large reflecting pool beneath the gnomon designed by architect Joe Wong and solar engineer John Yellott. The dial is constructed using a steel frame and covered in anodized copper. The hour markers are 4 ft. diameter concrete circles. The dial is designed to show solar time corrected for the time zone offset. Thus the hour markers have been moved ahead of the solar time position. The hour lines are separated by alternating dark and light colored stones. The gnomon itself is 4 ft. wide, 72 ft. long and the tip is 35 ft. high. A pilot dial at a scale of 1/4 in. =1ft. is at the South end of the large dial. It is constructed of gold-anodized aluminum with time lines at 10 minute intervals. An equation of time plaque is nearby. The upper surface of the dial formerly served as a solar water heater to provide hot water to the city's first office building. Numerals face outward, so that they are more easily read by viewers.