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.

 

Washington

 
Shoreline Washington USA Analemmatic Dial Dial 796
An 8 foot diameter concrete and pebble analemmatic dial with engraved stainless steel inserts for central date line and simple instructions for use. The dial face is raised one foot on a fluted column above the perimeter concrete and stainless steel walkway and has stainless steel Arabic hour numerals for 6 AM, 12 PM and 6 PM. The walkway has stainless steel inserts showing hour lines, magnetic north, true north, winter solstice, equinox and summer solstice directions.
 
 
Shreveport Louisiana USA Horizontal Dial Dial 138
Stone Dial vandalized. Gnomon missing, apparently knocked off with some damage to horizontal dial plate. Dial bears Roman numerals, from IV to VIII.
 
 
Sidney British Columbia Canada Armillary Sphere Dial 682
A 20 inch diameter brass armillary sphere with equatorial, meridian and equinoctial colure rings. Gnomon has two nodus balls that may show solar position at solstices. Equatorial ring has 15-minute marks and Arabic hour numerals. The dial alignment needs adjustment for its current location.
 
 
Sidney British Columbia Canada Horizontal Dial Dial 749
A 10 inch diameter horizontal bronze dial with hour lines, quarter hour marks and Roman hour numerals. The dial face includes a central compass rose. The dial sits atop a fluted concrete pedestal. The dial is gnomonically correct, designed for latitude.
 
 
Silver Bay Minnesota USA Horizontal Dial Dial 227
A horizontal dial on the ground, with an hour circle about 12 feet. The gnomon is of steel, about 4 foot high. The gnomon is oriented to magnetic north. It is not an accurate device. Three boulders surround the dial and cut off the shadow much of the time. Gravel hour circle has rocks to mark the hours, but the rocks can be moved and are strewn all about. More suggestive of a dial than a real dial.
 
 
Skippack Pennsylvania USA Analemmatic Dial Dial 650
A concrete and engraved brick analemmatic dial set in a garden of crushed rock.
 
 
Soap Lake Washington USA Sculpture/Artwork Dial 652
A monumental, 1-1/3 life-size bronze, steel and basalt rock sundial sculpture of a human figure with raised arm serving as a gnomon. The sculpture, "Calling the Healing Waters," depicts a young Native American couple as Father Sky and Mother Earth, sacred essence of rain and minerals connecting and bringing healing. Reflecting ethnic and historical themes, the winged warrior protects and comforts the maiden holding a catch basin for the healing waters. The sculpture was commissioned to honor the healing properties of the waters of Soap Lake.
 
 
Solvang California USA Vertical Dial Dial 750
A cast or wrought iron vertical dial about 3 foot square painted black, prominently mounted at the roof line of the Royal Copenhagen Inn. The dial face has hour lines, half-hour marks and Roman hour numerals. The dial in not quite gnomonically correct as the building declines a few degrees west of south and the gnomon appears to be at 45? rather than 34.5?. The dial is visible from Mission Road. An interesting wind vane is seen on the roof peak above the dial.
 
 
Somerville Massachusetts USA Vertical Dial Dial 441
This 5 foot x 7 foot vertical dial is painted onto the true south facing concrete wall of a commercial building. The gnomon and hour lines appear to be weathered copper or bronze. The hour lines are corrected for longitude, but may be in error by about 5 minutes. The dial is in relatively good condition, but the painted numerals are fading. The building itself has been in several hands over the last 10-15 years.
 
 
South Bend Indiana USA Compound Dial Dial 710
A combination horizontal dial with nodus on its gnomon and a meridian projection dial located below. Horizontal dial face is 44 inches diameter and made of polished Chinese gabbro basaltic rock, reflecting clouds overhead and gnomon shadow, which shows location of solar noon on gnomonic projection map of the world on dial face. Gnomon is supported by curved triangular bronze arches. Gnomon nodus shadow shows location on map where sun is directly overhead while solstice and equinox lines indicate date. Hour markers show EDST by Roman numerals with ten minute increments by Arabic numerals and marks for one minute. Dial is supported on an octagonal limestone pedestal with French Gothic cathedral window design allowing viewing of meridian dial date line. Meridian dial is placed below the octagonal limestone pedestal whose French Gothic cathedral window design allows the noon date line to be seen. The date line is illuminated only at noon by sunlight passing through a slit orifice that extends 2/3 the way up the pedestal wall, indicating dates between summer and winter solstice by the end of the end of the bar of light. The entire combination dial sits on a plaza inlaid with three types of granite to form a 32 foot diameter compass rose, with sunrise and sunset times shown for sixteen dates special to Notre Dame University.
 
 
South Burlington Vermont USA Sun Alignment Dial 695
A calendrical dial sculpture of light beams projected onto the crushed stone surface of a 60 foot diameter meditative labyrinth. Two cylindrical focusing mirrors are located atop 10 foot poles and project short bars of sunlight that wander around the labyrinth but intersect on the equinoxes and winter solstice to form a cross at the center of the labyrinth at solar noon.
 
 
South Burlington Vermont USA Horizontal Dial Dial 264
An 8 foot wrought iron steel horizontal dial. Design is of two circles enclosing one another and quartered. Outer circle is 11 foot wide with beaded edges and Roman hour numerals. Inner circle is 3'4" diameter quartered disk. Surveyed in 1992, finding condition very poor; steel dial is rusted. No motto or plaque is provided.
 
 
South Hadley Massachusetts USA Horizontal Dial Dial 338
This is known as the Mary Deacon Bullard Sundial. It is a bronze-patina horizontal dial about 16 inches in diameter, with a plain gnomon that rises about 6 inches. The chapter ring has time divided into quarter hours. Roman numerals grace the dial from 5am to 7pm. The dial face has an offset 8-point compass rose The dial sits on an ornate stone pillar resting on a two-step octagonal base.
 
 
South Hadley Massachusetts USA Horizontal Dial Dial 177
ca 18 inch diameter horizontal dial. Roman numerals, 5 AM to 7 PM. Zodiac signs in circle within numerals. Capricorn and Sagittarius misplaced. The gnomon was replaced in 1991, but again has been vandalized. Dial sits atop a granite 4-finned pillar with circular granite capital.
 
 
South Hadley Massachusetts USA Vertical Dial Dial 995
This vertical dial is a quaint and simple sundial made of wood. It is nearly square in shape with hour lines radiating from the gnomon. The hours are marked at the edge of the square in small Roman numerals. There are no solstice or equinox lines. The black disk on the dial face is the base of the gnomon.
 
 
South Hadley Massachusetts USA Vertical Dial Dial 996
This vertical sundial declines slightly to the southwest in alignment with the building wall. The 1x1 meter dial is of concrete and built in the middle of the south wall. Because of its size and height at least 25 feet above ground, it was made to be seen at a distance. In 1916 when it was built, the land to the south was clear and many early photographs show the dial prominently on the south face One hundred years later many trees block the sunlight to this fine sundial. The dial is delineated in half-hour lines spanning from the 7:30am line in morning to the 6pm hour line in the evening. The hour lines are marked with Roman numerals. There are no solstice or equinox lines.
 
 
South Lee Massachusetts USA Vertical Dial Dial 838
On the transom of a brown wood shingled and stone building that looks like it once was a church is a vertical south declining wooden sundial about 2 x 2 feet square. The sundial is painted red with a nicely cut wood gnomon. Hour lines and Roman numerals from VI to VI are chiseled into the wood, along with an inscription. The dial is framed in wood as well but the contrasting grey paint is flaking off.
 
 
South Woodstock Vermont USA Vertical Dial Dial 569
A painted 47x72 inch vertical dial of red oak declining east. Markings include analemmas for each hour, solstice declination lines and day lines for the first of each month with Zodiac icons on perimeter. Contact dial designer David Scott to arrange viewing.
 
 
Southampton Ontario Canada Horizontal Dial Dial 1094
A simple horizontal dial marked with solar hours, unusual in having a reflective chrome coating of the entire dial (in some spots the chrome has flaked off where the underlying material has started to rust). The gnomon is a triangular vane with a pattern of round holes pierced though it. The dial face is approximately 20" (50cm) square and wraps down at the edges to make a 3" (7.5cm) high block. It stands on a square concrete column about 3' (1m) high, which also contains a hidden Time Capsule.
 
 
Sparkill New York USA Vertical Dial Dial 145
11' H x 7' W x 2' D. Mosaic tile and bronze Entitled 'Thorpe Village Sundial'
 
 
Spokane Washington USA Horizontal Dial Dial 1074
The stone dial is approximately 24 inches (61 cm) in diameter with a large brass gnomon whose foot is considerably offset to the south. Simple hour lines with Arabic numbers from 7am to 5pm facing outward. The dial is approximately 2 inches (5 cm) thick with a band for inscription directly below. All this sits on a 12-sided pedestal of slightly larger diameter. On each slender side of the pedestal is an embossed sign of the zodiac. Lichens have taken hold on parts of the dial and pedestal. The sundial is a memorial to the two sons of Mr. and Mrs. R. Jackson Wortman. Jacob J. Wortman died at age 15 after a lingering illness. Ward K. Wortman, a fighter pilot in the Air Corps, was killed in action.
 
 
Springfield Vermont USA Vertical Dial Dial 542
A 52x55 inch painted wood vertical dial designed and built by Russell Porter. The wood gnomon is stabilized by copper sheet. Available for viewing at the summer Stellafane Telescope Makers conference or by arrangement by email with owner.
 
 
St. Augustine Florida USA Vertical Dial Dial 611
This painted dial is about 3 by 4 feet with simple lines marking the hours and quarter hours from 8 am to 5 pm. Hours are marked with. Roman numerals. The gnomon is a replacement of the original, coming out of the wall at a perpendicular angle, then bent for the slightly declining dial. Dial's painted coordinates are about 15" south and 27" east of true (Google Earth).
 
 
St. Augustine Florida USA Equatorial Dial Dial 943
A stainless steel about 12-inches in diameter with an equatorial band from 6am to 6pm. The equatorial band is about 1 1/2 inches wide while the meridian arc is about one inch wide. The gnomon is a stainless steel rod about 1/4 inch in diameter. The metal support has a large compass rose, with points to the four major and minor cardinal points. The dial sits upon a classic Charles Dickens formed pedestal with square base and top.
 
 
St. Augustine Florida USA Horizontal Dial Dial 944
The bronze dial is about 18 inches in diameter with hour numbers in Roman numerals from 5am to 7pm. Decorated with hummingbirds on both the east and west sides and flowers both top and bottom. The gnomon is missing.
 
 
St. Catherines Ontario Canada Horizontal Dial Dial 1030
This horizontal dial is engraved into a square block of pink granite with Roman hour numbers around the periphery and in Arabic numbers in an interior chapter ring. The gnomon was vandalized years ago and is totally missing. At the base of where the gnomon would sit is a compass rose. Southward on the dial face is the Centennial Maple Leaf and latitude/longitude and altitude. As of 2021 the dial face is rotated with noon facing due south. The square concrete pedestal has settled after 50 years and is to longer vertical.
 
 
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.
 
 
St. John's Newfoundland Canada Horizontal Dial Dial 775
A 10 inch diameter heavily cast bronze horizontal dial with bronze gnomon that was apparently replaced or remounted in the past. The dial face includes hour and half-hour lines and Roman hour numerals from 5 AM to 7 PM. The center of the dial face shows a simplified map of the world. The dial sits atop a stone pedestal with a two-part octagonal base. The base is inscribed with a dedication to the memory of Sir Edgar Rennie Bowring, K.C.M.G. (1858-1943), industrialist, born at St. John's, Newfoundland on August 17, 1858, son of John Bowring and Mary Rennie.
 
 
St. Johns Newfoundland Canada Armillary Sphere Dial 132
A 38.5 inch diameter bronze armillary with equatorial, meridian and horizon rings and with Roman hour numerals. Dial sits atop a six foot high concrete pedestal. The dial was restored in 1999 by Memorial University's Technical Services Department to celebrate the Festival of Anniversaries.
 
 
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.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Equatorial Dial Dial 776
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. Time and date are read by the shadow of the intersection of the two gnomon rods. Instructions are included on the dial face and plaque.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Equatorial Dial Dial 777
A cast aluminum equatorial dial 15 inches in diameter with a rotating, two-part, three-dimensional analemmic gnomon; this is a classic Schmoyer dial completed by Bill Gottesman. One gnomon half is used from summer solstice to winter solstice; time is shown by a beam of light passing through the gnomon slit to fall on the hour ring. The other gnomon half is used from winter solstice to summer solstice.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Horizontal Dial Dial 836
A horizontal sundial made on an octagonal brass plate, measuring 12 inches from side to side. The engraved hour lines are divided with marks for half, quarter and eighth parts of the hour. The hour numbers themselves are outward facing Roman numerals. The brass gnomon is bent slightly to the west by vandals. The pedestal is 37.5 inches tall with a 17 inch circular top cap of pink marble. Unfortunately the dial is located near a tree, so it is in shade for part of day.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Horizontal Dial Dial 847
The circular bronze dial has a massive triangular gnomon and is kept under a protective plastic dome. In R. McGuire's book, St. Louis Arsenal - Armory Of The West is a picture of the sundial for which the caption reads "On December 12, 1859, master armorer N. Engels, machinist A. Schaedel, and engraver W. Hawksley dedicated a sundial, which they had created entirely from spare ordnance materials. It was a scientifically precise instrument, measuring 17 inches in diameter, and was used for many years as the definitive chronometer of the arsenal. Engraved upon it was a poem entitled 'The Bird of Liberty,' reflecting the patriotic fervor of the day."
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Horizontal Dial Dial 848
The original sundial, made in 1841, was 14 inches in diameter and sat on a limestone pedestal 30 inches high. In early drawings from the late 1890's and later photos, the dial had a massive triangular gnomon. For years it served as the post chronometer.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Horizontal Dial Dial 883
The circular bronze dial sits on an iron pipe, surrounded by a picket fence and protected from the elements by a brass hood. It is a nearly identical dial to the one at the St. Louis Arsenal (NASS dial #847), and was manufactured in the same year, 1859. It is likely that master armorer N. Engels, machinist A. Schaedel, and engraver W. Hawksley created this dial. The Old Courthouse Dial measures 17 inches in diameter, has a large unadorned triangular gnomon, and on the plate has hour lines from 6am to 6pm delineated every 15 minutes. There is a curious second set of hour lines at the top of the dial plate from 10am to 2pm. Hour numbers are in Roman numerals. There are no other engravings on the dial.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Obelisk or Vertical Gnomon Dial 885
The obelisk is constructed of North Carolina pink granite. At the base it is 18 x 16 inches and soars 18 feet into the sky. The obelisk displays a cross in its own shadow at solar noon on three days each year – the vernal equinox on about March 21, the summer solstice on about June 21, and the autumnal equinox on about September 22.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Horizontal Dial Dial 889
Sitting on a classic sundial pedestal is the Concordia sundial made of thin bronze plate in the shape of a hexagon about 8 inches between opposing sides. Hour lines radiate from where a thick gnomon would have stood, with Arabic numbers from 4am to 8pm counting the hours. The gnomon had gone missing in 2009 when the dial was vandalized. A new gnomon fitting the position of the old was designed by Don Snyder of St. Louis and made of bronze plate by William Turner of Turner & Associates, a metalworker also of St. Louis.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Horizontal Dial Dial 891
This horizontal sundial is part of a sculpture set, formed as a lily pad, and surrounded by three circular flowers with centers that are small water fountains (no longer working). The dial face is no longer flat and the graceful gnomon does not point true north. There is a short cylinder at the end of the gnomon with a hole, perhaps for casting a beam of light on a certain day. The hole is at a 34.4 deg angle, aiming toward the slot in the dial face. Now, the dial is located in dense shade preventing operation.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Horizontal Dial Dial 918
The dial plate is a 16 x 16 inch square piece of milk glass, with the hour lines and Arabic numerals made by sandblasting through a photo-etched stencil and then spraying black with lithichrome paint into the etchings. The triangular gnomon is made of 3/8 inch thick stainless steel. Saint Louis sculptor Abraham Mohler made the pedestal from EW Gold limestone quarried near Ste. Genevieve, MO. It is 18 x 18 inches square and 40 inches tall.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Horizontal Dial Dial 941
The dial has a horizontal plate about 10.5 inches in diameter made of bronze with a green-grey patina. The plate is sculpted as a sunflower. Hour lines are inscribed every 15 minutes and hours indicated in Arabic numbers.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Vertical Dial Dial 983
The Mullanphy School is the last school of 48 designed by and constructed under the guidance of William B. Ittner (1864-1936), an architect and Commissioner of School Buildings for St. Louis, MO. Only hour lines are marked on this simple vertical sundial. The picture of the sundial was taken at 1:41 PM CDT on 7 May 2019. Using the relation T(solar) = T(civil) + EOT - Daylight - LonCorrection, with EOT=3.3m, Daylight=1h, and LonCorrection=1m, indicates that the dial should show 12:43:31. This suggests that Ittner’s sundial at the Mullanphy School displays this sundial time to a reasonable approximation, especially considering that its only time markings are hour lines.
 
 
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
 
 
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. Louis Missouri USA Horizontal Dial Dial 525
This horizontal sundial is a 30 inch diameter and 1.5 inch thick sealed, copper-coated steel plate with cast lead hour markers and weighs 250 pounds. Built in 2002, it was installed in September, 2004 in a private home rear yard. Dial is supported by 6x6 inch pressure treated wood post with 4x4 inch cross frame. Viewing can be arranged by contacting the owner.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Vertical Dial Dial 553
A vertical dial of limestone and copper held in the hands of an angle statue.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Analemmatic Dial Dial 605
A child-safe compliant surface analemmatic dial located in a roof garden. The dial face includes hour numerals, cardinal directions and moon phases. A nearby plaque give directions for use.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Horizontal Dial Dial 622
A 16.5 inch diameter bronze horizontal dial on a stone pedestal in front of the south entrance to the glass-walled Jewel Box building in Forest Park. The dial was erected by the Missouri Society Colonial Dames of America as a tribute to the memory of Mary Harrison Leighton Shields, who organized the Society in 1896 and served as its president until 1913. The dial face is inscribed, "WE LIVE IN DEEDS NOT YEARS." Dial furniture includes an hour glass and eagle wings. The perimeter around the dial is inscribed, "MARY HARRISON LEIGHTON SHIELDS." Dial sits atop a stone pedestal.
 
 
St. Louis Missouri USA Horizontal Dial Dial 626
A unique horizontal dial 28 inches square and 1 inch thick of white Carrara marble with two cast bronze gnomons. Four time systems are shown on the dial. The shadow of the short vertical gnomon near the dial center indicates Ezanic hours based on a 24 equal-hour day with two 12-hour periods starting at sunset; Babylonian hours similarly based on two 12-hour periods starting at sunrise; and two Moslem prayer times, Zuhr and Asr. The polar gnomon shadow indicates hours based on two, 12 equal-hour periods starting at noon and midnight. The polar gnomon support consists of seven rings representing the celestial spheres of Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Dial furniture includes a Qibla showing the direction to Mecca, N 42.7° for this location. Dial markings are accentuated with inlaid gold leaf. This dial design is based on the Ottoman dial at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, built about 1480, and on Ibn Al Shatir's dial in Damascus built 1371, the first sundial with a polar gnomon. Dial rests on three large carved marble blocks 42 inches high. The Botanical Gardens are public but require a moderate admission fee.
 
 
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.