History of Georgia Land Surveying

e rich history of the state of Georgia, landpresent-day border.
surveying has played a large role since before itsGeorgia’s most well-known example of
inception. From weathering the shifts in power andland surveying began with the Georgia Land
policy regarding land distribution to rebuilding theLottery of 1805. Again, land surveyors were called
devastating destruction across the entire state inin to measure and regulate the parcels of land
the wake of the Civil War, Georgia’s landthat were to be sold off by lottery. This job was
surveyors have been instrumental in literallya bit more hazardous than for a land surveyor
shaping the state into the Georgia we knowtoday, as much of the land that was to be sold
today.off had been “ceded” by the
The first land surveyors to chart Georgia wereNative Creek and Cherokee tribes. The tribes
actually Spanish seafaring explorers. The firstfought the seizure of their lands, and in fact won
surveys completed on the land that isa decision from the Supreme Court, which both
present-day Georgia were geodetic surveysthe local state government and President Andrew
which charted the coast. French Jesuits wouldJackson ignored. The Cherokee, in particular, had
later move farther inland, charting the geographyto be forcibly removed, and President Jackson
they came across as they went. Dr. Henrysent national troops in to assist Georgia in this
Woodard would later be credited with exploringprocess. In all, eight Land Lotteries were held; the
and mapping much of Georgia as the first Britishlast, held in 1832, would divide Old Cherokee
settler, but in reality, there were not many placesCounty into the existing North Georgia Counties.
he went that the Spanish and FrenchWith agriculture, most especially the cotton
hadn’t already been.industry, growing in northern and central Georgia
Before Georgia adopted their historical Landpost-Revolution, the government realized that
Lottery system, they used a headright system,they needed a more stable and speedy means of
which was commonplace during the settling of thedelivering product than rivers and roads.
Thirteen Colonies. Headrights were plots of landSurveyors began to map out what would become
varying in size, given out to encourage people toan extensive railroad system. This involved not
cross the Atlantic Ocean and help populate theonly the route surveys to prepare for the railroad
colonies. In Georgia, the headright system wasties to be laid, but also site plan and construction
instituted in 1777, although no land would besurveys for the towns that would develop along
granted under the program until 1780. Familiesthe rail lines. This led to the first city of a
were offered 200 acres, plus an additional 50significant size to be located inland in the United
acres per person to settle in Georgia. SurveyorsStates. Atlanta would become a city of roads
were employed to parcel the land intended forlocated in the center of the state, rather than a
grants. Some land was so highly prized that inport. This also led to a shift in power from the
1784 a brawl broke out over the headrightcoastal city of Savannah to land-locked Atlanta.
distribution for Franklin and Washington Counties.After the Civil War, Georgia would again need to
The Yazoo Land Fraud was the greatest examplecall on land surveyors to assist in rebuilding the
of abuse of the headright system, as it not onlystate. While marching south, General Sherman had
involved corrupt business men, but also electeddestroyed most of the Georgia rail lines, which
officials. In 1789 three companies, were formed inhad been the best in the Deep South. Atlanta had
order to buy land from the Georgia legislature.been nearly destroyed, and all of Georgia was in a
The governor at the time, Telfair signed a deal tostate of upheaval, both from the destruction as
sell 20,000,000 acres of land to the Yazoowell as the social changes occurring, including the
companies for $207,000, or about 1 cent perabolishment of slavery. Because of the poor
acre. Not only was this well below current marketeconomic situation Georgia was in, the rebuilding
standards, but the members of the companyof the infrastructure took much longer than the
attempted to pay with worthless old currency.initial surveying and building had.
This caused the deal to fall through. In 1794, fourIn an attempt to put to work thousands of
new companies managed to convince theunemployed land surveyors during the Great
legislature to sell them 40,000,000 acres of landDepression, Georgia commissioned a survey which
(including the land included in the previous deal) forwould lead to Georgia the being the first state in
$500,000. The reason why the deal passedthe Union to have complete horizontal and vertical
became apparent when it was learned that manycontrol nets. This was the first time in its history
Georgia official and legislators were stockholders inthat all of Georgia’s land and boundaries
the four companies. When these associationswere measured, monumented and clearly
were made public, outrage spread through thedelineated.
people of Georgia, and demands to rescind theSince 1937, Georgia land surveyors have been
deal were heard all the way to the capital. One ofmandated by the Georgia State Board of
the leaders of the reform effort, Jared Irwin, wasRegistration for Professional Engineers and Land
elected Governor. Less than two months afterSurveyors, who has the power to adopt rules,
taking office, he signed a bill nullifying the Yazooset standards for licensure, adopt mandatory
deal. They burned all copies of the bill, except forstandards of professional conduct and ethics, and
one which had been sent to George Washington.investigate and discipline unauthorized, negligent,
But some people who had been sold land by theunethical or incompetent practice. They also
four companies refused the refunds offered toreview applications, administer examinations,
them, insisting that they stay on the land. Thelicense qualified applicants, and regulate the
matter was not resolved until 1803, when Georgiaprofessional practice of licensees throughout the
ceded all claims to any lands west of itsstate.