The hand-drawn map showing the Mason-Dixon Line that eventually divided free from slave states in the U.S. sold Thursday for $950,000.

Forty-five bidders battled just under three minutes for ownership of what is perhaps the most consequential map in American history.

Bidding started at $400,000 for the survey of states divided by the Mason-Dixon Line, finished in 1768 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. The sale was held online and in person at Brunk Auctions in Asheville , North Carolina.

While it didn’t fetch the hoped-for $1.2 million high estimate, auction house Vice President Lauren Brunk said she was pleased.

“It’s a very high price for a map," she said.

Brunk said the buyer asked to remain anonymous, at least for the time being.

The survey was originally commissioned to settle a border dispute between what were then the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania .…