| When first asked to name famous land | | | | settlement of the frontier. One of his most |
| surveyors, most people assume that there aren't | | | | famous acts as president was in organizing the |
| any. However, this is far from the truth. In fact, | | | | Lewis & Clark Expedition to explore and |
| there are many famous land surveyors | | | | survey the west. Meriwether Lewis & William |
| throughout history, though they usually achieve | | | | Clark, who explored the area of the Louisiana |
| fame for other activities. In fact, most | | | | Purchase from 1804 to 1806, contributed greatly |
| professionals from centuries ago worked | | | | to land surveying in America. They mapped the |
| concurrently in several different professions, such | | | | area with considerable accuracy for the time |
| as politics, military careers, exploration, or land | | | | period, allowing for the western expansion of the |
| surveying. In fact, several U.S. Presidents may be | | | | United States. |
| found among the ranks of famous land surveyors. | | | | Daniel Boone, who lived from 1734 to 1820, is |
| Did you know that George Washington was a land | | | | famous for his pioneering and exploration, like |
| surveyor? At the age of 17, future president | | | | Lewis and Clark. He, too, was a land surveyor. |
| George Washington was appointed as the | | | | Most of his land surveying efforts occurred in |
| Surveyor General in Virginia in 1749. In that year, | | | | Kentucky, to resolve settlers' claims to land titles. |
| the English colony of Virginia planned to promote | | | | British explorer Captain James Cook, who was |
| expansion by offering land speculators a thousand | | | | born in 1728, sailed into every ocean. Not only did |
| acres for every family they could convince to | | | | he explore, but he also surveyed the areas he |
| move west. He became the first Registered | | | | found. These are just a few of the land |
| County Surveyor in America. | | | | surveyors who you may not have realized were |
| Benjamin Banneker, a self-taught African | | | | land surveyors, as they achieved fame as |
| American mathematician, astronomer, and | | | | explorers and not land surveyors. |
| surveyor, was appointed in 1789 by President | | | | Charles Mason & Jeremiah Dixon's land |
| George Washington to survey the area which | | | | surveying efforts survive in the "Mason-Dixon |
| would become Washington D.C. The project to | | | | line", the boundary between Maryland and |
| survey the national capital was completed | | | | Pennsylvania. This line divided the "slave states" |
| between 1791 and 1793. Like many land | | | | from the "free states" during debates in Congress |
| surveyors of this time, he also enjoyed several | | | | over the Missouri Compromise in 1820. Today, |
| other professional pursuits at the same time, | | | | this line is still used to distinguish the South from |
| including clockmaking and publishing an almanac. | | | | the North. |
| Another famous surveyor, Thomas Jefferson, | | | | Another president to previously hold a position as |
| was also a U.S. President later in life. He was | | | | land surveyor was Abraham Lincoln, who served |
| appointed County Surveyor for Albermarle | | | | as Deputy County Surveyor, as well as |
| County in Virginia in 1773. As Secretary of State | | | | Postmaster and operator of a general store. In |
| under George Washington, and later as President, | | | | fact, Lincoln was working as a surveyor when he |
| his appointment of surveyors later gave the | | | | was elected to the Illinois legislature at the |
| young nation the direction to promote the | | | | beginning of his political career. |