The Sundial at the Stormwater Wetland Park

Connection to Our Past and Future

sundial artwork in park

A Work of Art in Time

The City of Arlington commissioned this sundial artwork in 2024, with completion in 2025. The sundial is included in the City’s public art collection.

After metal sculptor Milo White refurbished the concrete foundation that supported the former round house and incinerator on this site, he designed and built the metal and resin sundial for the concrete pad. The tall gnomon casts its shadow on the Roman numerals embedded in the concrete to indicate the current time. The two curved metal and concrete benches, filled with local river rock, are places for viewers to slow time while contemplating the natural setting and artwork

The stainless-steel gnomon has cut-outs for the glass inserts created by glass artist Lin McJunkin. While the sundial utilizes light from the sun, these flaming glass shapes reference the tremendous heat generated by the energy of the sun’s nuclear fusion. The glass flames also refer to the role played by the incinerator in Arlington’s timber history.

Over the Course of Time

The sundial, with its own ancient history, represents the passage of time and Arlington’s legacy. 

This sundial is located in the Stormwater Wetland Park where engineered wetlands filter Old Town Arlington’s stormwater through native plants and natural processes. This park is a symbol of modern environmental technology and Arlington’s ongoing commitment to environmental, cultural and economic advances. 

This area is the traditional land of the Stoluck-wa-mish Tribe, the ancestors of the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians.  The people lived along the Stillaguamish River and camped along its tributaries. 

Pioneers arrived and established Haller City (later joined with Arlington City). The Haller City Sawmill was built in this location in 1894.  In 1903 the lumber mill converted to a shingle mill. Arlington was once ranked among the largest cedar shingle suppliers in the nation.

The round concrete base under the sundial originally supported a wood incinerator, once commonly used to dispose of mill wood waste by burning.  Imagine the pungent odor of wet wood burning and smoking here. Today wood mills find a way to turn much of the wood waste into products, for example stove pellets or garden mulch.

Prior to the City of Arlington purchasing this property in 2000, the Hammer family ran an active dairy on approximately 29 acres, from 1947 through the 1980s.  The original boardinghouse on the site was destroyed by fire in 1954.

A round house was built on the original wood incinerator’s concrete foundation in 1970 by the Hammer family to serve as their primary residence.  The City removed the house due to deterioration and the round foundation remains under the sundial’s new concrete pad. 

The Sundial’s Influence on the Modern World

The ancient timekeeping device’s ability to measure time based on the sun’s position in the sky has paved the way for more complex timekeeping devices.  Sundials remind us of the continuous evolution of human ingenuity and the importance of understanding the earth’s natural cycles. 

How to Read This Sundial

This sundial tells time using the Sun’s shadow. The angled metal piece (called the gnomon) casts a shadow onto the dial face. The shadow points to the hour, just like a clock hand. Since there is no minute hand, we have to estimate the minutes from the shadow’s position between the hour numbers. 

However, the Earth’s orbit is slightly oval and its axis is tilted. That causes the Sun to speed up and slow down a bit over the course of the year, which means sundial time doesn’t always match your watch or time on your phone.

To correct for this, we use the Equation of Time (EOT) — a graph showing how many minutes to add or subtract from the sundial’s reading to get accurate clock time.

Using the Equation of Time Graph

  • Read the approximate time from the sundial
  • Find today’s approximate date on the horizontal axis of the Equation of Time (EOT) graph below
  • Apply the correction:
    • If the EOT is a positive number on the minutes vertical axis, add that number of minutes to the sundial time.
    • If the EOT is negative on the minutes vertical axis, subtract that number of minutes from the sundial time.
    • If it is daylight saving time (spring through fall), add one more hour to match your phone or watch time.

What Are the Four Circles?

The four circles on the graph mark the solstices and equinoxes — the key turning points in Earth’s orbit that mark the change of seasons. This shows how the Sun’s speed varies over the year.



Equation of Time graph for sundial

sundial artwork with artist in park

Photo of artist Milo White.