THE home village of a surveyor who helped resolve a border dispute in 18th Century America is to mark the 250th anniversary of his most famous achievement.

This year marks the landmark anniversary of the 233- mile Mason-Dixon line, which dissects the north and southeast of the US.

The line was created by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon between 1763 and 1767 to resolve a border dispute between the British Colonies prior to the American Civil War.

The line, which forms the border between Pennsylvania and Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia, was commissioned by landowners across the states. After the abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania in 1871, it also divided those places where slavery was still legal from the freedom states.

Dixon was born in Cockfield, near Bishop Auckland, in 1733, one of seven children of a wealthy coal mine owner.

His childhood home is still in the village and Cockfield Parish Council has agreed to mark the 250th anniversary of the surveyor’s most noted achievement.

Pauline Charlton, county councillor for Evenwood, said it was time the village’s most famous son was recognised.

She said: “I hope we can make a big thing of this anniversary, although what we will definitely be doing has not been determined yet.”

Early ideas include installing a blue plaque at the house where he was born and sending marker stones to the US to be placed on the Dixon Way.

Coun Charlton said: “I believe he may have been the most famous person born here in County Durham. Certainly all Americans know about him and his work was very significant.

“It’s a shame Cockfield does not get more recognition.”

Dixon, who was also a keen astronomer, was educated in Barnard Castle before becoming an assistant to Charles Mason in 1761.

In 1769, he travelled to Norway to plot the path of Venus and died in Cockfield on January 22, 1779, aged 45.

The Mason-Dixon line starts south of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, next to the Delaware River and ends at the border of West Virginia.

It is marked by stones imported from Britain and, although it has been resurveyed several times, no major changes have ever been made to the original line.