diff --git a/zenith_utils/src/lib.rs b/zenith_utils/src/lib.rs
index 9de98202c6..fb4d415f22 100644
--- a/zenith_utils/src/lib.rs
+++ b/zenith_utils/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 //! zenith_utils is intended to be a place to put code that is shared
 //! between other crates in this repository.
 
+/// `Lsn` type implements common tasks on Log Sequence Numbers
+pub mod lsn;
 /// SeqWait allows waiting for a future sequence number to arrive
 pub mod seqwait;
diff --git a/zenith_utils/src/lsn.rs b/zenith_utils/src/lsn.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a67b17b1e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zenith_utils/src/lsn.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+#![warn(missing_docs)]
+
+use std::fmt;
+use std::ops::{Add, AddAssign, Sub};
+use std::path::Path;
+use std::str::FromStr;
+
+/// A Postgres LSN (Log Sequence Number), also known as an XLogRecPtr
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, Eq, Ord, PartialEq, PartialOrd)]
+pub struct Lsn(pub u64);
+
+/// We tried to parse an LSN from a string, but failed
+#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, thiserror::Error)]
+#[error("LsnParseError")]
+pub struct LsnParseError;
+
+impl Lsn {
+    /// Maximum possible value for an LSN
+    pub const MAX: Lsn = Lsn(u64::MAX);
+
+    /// Parse an LSN from a filename in the form `0000000000000000`
+    pub fn from_filename<F>(filename: F) -> Result<Self, LsnParseError>
+    where
+        F: AsRef<Path>,
+    {
+        let filename: &Path = filename.as_ref();
+        let filename = filename.to_str().ok_or(LsnParseError)?;
+        Lsn::from_hex(filename)
+    }
+
+    /// Parse an LSN from a string in the form `0000000000000000`
+    pub fn from_hex<S>(s: S) -> Result<Self, LsnParseError>
+    where
+        S: AsRef<str>,
+    {
+        let s: &str = s.as_ref();
+        let n = u64::from_str_radix(s, 16).or(Err(LsnParseError))?;
+        Ok(Lsn(n))
+    }
+
+    /// Compute the offset into a segment
+    pub fn segment_offset(self, seg_sz: u64) -> u64 {
+        self.0 % seg_sz
+    }
+
+    /// Compute the segment number
+    pub fn segment_number(self, seg_sz: u64) -> u64 {
+        self.0 / seg_sz
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<u64> for Lsn {
+    fn from(n: u64) -> Self {
+        Lsn(n)
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<Lsn> for u64 {
+    fn from(lsn: Lsn) -> u64 {
+        lsn.0
+    }
+}
+
+impl FromStr for Lsn {
+    type Err = LsnParseError;
+
+    /// Parse an LSN from a string in the form `00000000/00000000`
+    ///
+    /// If the input string is missing the '/' character, then use `Lsn::from_hex`
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        let mut splitter = s.split('/');
+        if let (Some(left), Some(right), None) = (splitter.next(), splitter.next(), splitter.next())
+        {
+            let left_num = u32::from_str_radix(left, 16).map_err(|_| LsnParseError)?;
+            let right_num = u32::from_str_radix(right, 16).map_err(|_| LsnParseError)?;
+            Ok(Lsn((left_num as u64) << 32 | right_num as u64))
+        } else {
+            Err(LsnParseError)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl fmt::Display for Lsn {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "{:X}/{:X}", self.0 >> 32, self.0 & 0xffffffff)
+    }
+}
+
+impl Sub<u64> for Lsn {
+    type Output = Lsn;
+
+    fn sub(self, other: u64) -> Self::Output {
+        // panic if the subtraction overflows/underflows.
+        Lsn(self.0.checked_sub(other).unwrap())
+    }
+}
+
+impl Add<u64> for Lsn {
+    type Output = Lsn;
+
+    fn add(self, other: u64) -> Self::Output {
+        // panic if the addition overflows.
+        Lsn(self.0.checked_add(other).unwrap())
+    }
+}
+
+impl AddAssign<u64> for Lsn {
+    fn add_assign(&mut self, other: u64) {
+        // panic if the addition overflows.
+        self.0 = self.0.checked_add(other).unwrap();
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_lsn_strings() {
+        assert_eq!("12345678/AAAA5555".parse(), Ok(Lsn(0x12345678AAAA5555)));
+        assert_eq!("aaaa/bbbb".parse(), Ok(Lsn(0x0000AAAA0000BBBB)));
+        assert_eq!("1/A".parse(), Ok(Lsn(0x000000010000000A)));
+        assert_eq!("0/0".parse(), Ok(Lsn(0)));
+        "ABCDEFG/12345678".parse::<Lsn>().unwrap_err();
+        "123456789/AAAA5555".parse::<Lsn>().unwrap_err();
+        "12345678/AAAA55550".parse::<Lsn>().unwrap_err();
+        "-1/0".parse::<Lsn>().unwrap_err();
+        "1/-1".parse::<Lsn>().unwrap_err();
+
+        assert_eq!(format!("{}", Lsn(0x12345678AAAA5555)), "12345678/AAAA5555");
+        assert_eq!(format!("{}", Lsn(0x000000010000000A)), "1/A");
+
+        assert_eq!(Lsn::from_hex("12345678AAAA5555"), Ok(Lsn(0x12345678AAAA5555)));
+        assert_eq!(Lsn::from_hex("0"), Ok(Lsn(0)));
+        assert_eq!(Lsn::from_hex("F12345678AAAA5555"), Err(LsnParseError));
+    }
+}