Surveying the District of Columbia Surveying was not only for the wealthy plantation owners, but the entire new nation needed to be surveyed, and resurveyed. Most of all, the proposed new capital city, bearing Washington ’ s name, needed to be surveyed. A two-man team would survey what became the District of Columbia in 1791. The first was Benjamin Banneker, a free ex-slave, who learned to read, write, and do math from his grandmother. Banneker would go on to be a leading astronomer, mathematician, clock maker, and most of all, a surveyor. The second man was Andrew Ellicott. He would go on to do several prominent surveys of the area and assist Lewis and Clark in planning their expedition. Needing money to pay the debts for the Revolutionary War, Jefferson began selling land in the Northwest Territory in plots of for $2.50 an acre. Soon after, he sold the land in plots of for $1.25 an acre. The NW Territory was surveyed using the Rectangular System. This system used a central point determined by a Principal North-South Meridian Line and an East-West Base line. Jefferson convinced Congress to accept the land deal with Napoleon. As a result of the Louisiana Purchase and Jefferson ’ s love for nature, Jefferson organized the Lewis and Clark expedition. Andrew Ellicott taught Lewis and Clark how to use a sextant to map their position. Lewis and Clark would leave from Wood River, Illinois and document the wilderness all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Lincoln: politics and surveying Abraham Lincoln came to New Salem in 1831, and shortly after in 1832, he lost in his bid to become a state representative. The Sangamon County Surveyor , John Calhoun, then offered Lincoln a job as Deputy Surveyor due to the high volume of resurveying. As Deputy Surveyor , Lincoln surveyed five towns, four roads, and thirty properties. The first was the plat for Huron, a proposed town North of Springfield that never came to be. The proposal was that county would build a canal to straighten the Sangamon River, but the canal was never built. The last town Lincoln laid out was New Boston, a town at the confluence of the Iowa River and the Mississippi River. Instead of payment for his work, Lincoln had his surveying equipment repossessed and sold. Unknown to Lincoln, Jimmy Short, a friend, bought all of his equipment, his horse, and his saddlebags. Short returned Lincoln ’ s surveying equipment and later, as president, Lincoln returned the favor by making Short the Indian Agent of the Round Lake Indian Reservation. Later History Over the course of the Nineteenth Century land surveying in America transformed from a prestigious, status-driven endeavor derived from the authority of a Royal government and administration that had been inherited from the Colonial-Era, to the more practical, and standardized modern field of public service as it is generally recognized today, which would lead the way in the vast expansion straight across the Continent to the West Coast. The Public Land Survey System was mainly involved in overseeing the surveying of these vast new swaths of private lands along the ever-shifting frontier, while Federal Organizations such as the United States Survey of the Coast and the General Land Office, among several others, dealt with surveying all the lands deemed federal property in these new territories, as well as the already established Post-Colonial jurisdictions.
Surveying the District of Columbia Surveying was not only for the wealthy plantation owners, but the entire new nation needed to be surveyed, and resurveyed. Most of all, the proposed new capital city, bearing Washington ' s name, needed to be surveyed. A two-man team would survey what became the District of Columbia in 1791. The first was Benjamin Banneker, a free ex-slave, who learned to read, write, and do math from his grandmother. Banneker would go on to be a leading astronomer, mathematician, clock maker, and most of all, a surveyor. The second man was Andrew Ellicott. He would go on to do several prominent surveys of the area and assist Lewis and Clark in planning their expedition. Needing money to pay the debts for the Revolutionary War, Jefferson began selling land in the Northwest Territory in plots of for $2.50 an acre. Soon after, he sold the land in plots of for $1.25 an acre. The NW Territory was surveyed using the Rectangular System. This system used a central point determined by a principal north–south meridian line and an east–west base line. Jefferson convinced Congress to accept the land deal with Napoleon. As a result of the Louisiana Purchase and Jefferson ' s love for nature, Jefferson organized the Lewis and Clark expedition. Andrew Ellicott taught Lewis and Clark how to use a sextant to map their position. Lewis and Clark would leave from Wood River, Illinois and document the wilderness all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Lincoln: politics and surveying Abraham Lincoln came to New Salem in 1831, and shortly after in 1832, he lost in his bid to become a state representative. The Sangamon County surveyor , John Calhoun, then offered Lincoln a job as deputy surveyor due to the high volume of resurveying. As deputy surveyor , Lincoln surveyed five towns, four roads, and thirty properties. The first was the plat for Huron, a proposed town North of Springfield that never came to be. The proposal was that county would build a canal to straighten the Sangamon River, but the canal was never built. The last town Lincoln laid out was New Boston, a town at the confluence of the Iowa River and the Mississippi River. Instead of payment for his work, Lincoln had his surveying equipment repossessed and sold. Unknown to Lincoln, Jimmy Short, a friend, bought all of his equipment, his horse, and his saddlebags. Short returned Lincoln ' s surveying equipment and later, as president, Lincoln returned the favor by making Short the Indian Agent of the Round Lake Indian Reservation. Later history Over the course of the 19th century, land surveying in America transformed from a prestigious, status-driven endeavor derived from the authority of a royal government and administration that had been inherited from the Colonial-Era, to the more practical, and standardized modern field of public service as it is generally recognized today, which would lead the way in the vast expansion straight across the Continent to the West Coast. The Public Land Survey System was mainly involved in overseeing the surveying of these vast new swaths of private lands along the ever-shifting frontier, while Federal Organizations such as the United States Survey of the Coast and the General Land Office, among several others, dealt with surveying all the lands deemed federal property in these new territories, as well as the already established post-colonial jurisdictions.
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Principal North-South Meridian Line and an East-West Base
principal north–south meridian line and an east–west base
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Surveyor
surveyor
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Deputy Surveyor
deputy surveyor
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Deputy Surveyor
deputy surveyor
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History
history
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Nineteenth Century
19th century,
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Royal
royal
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Post-Colonial
post-colonial