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8 of America’s Most Famous Land Surveyors by PDH Academy on August 31, 2017 in Engineering Land surveyors When you look back on famous land surveyors over the years, you might initially be at a loss. There are actually more famous land surveyors in history than you might think. In fact, historical land surveyors are an important part of the country’s settling.... 1. George Washington One of America’s most famous (and earliest) land surveyors is George Washington himself. The young future president got his bright start at the age of 17 in 1749. It was not long until he was appointed to be the Surveyor General for Virginia. Washington actually played an essential role at this time, because surveying the land promoted expansion westward. 2. Daniel Boone As an American pioneer and explorer from Kentucky, Daniel Boone resolved settler’s claims to land. The legend was known to have spent much of his time traveling around the American frontier. In spite of the fact that he had no formal schooling, Boone went on to become an expert tracker by the time he was a teenager. In the years following, he took to surveying. 3. Thomas Jefferson George Washington wasn’t the only president to work as a surveyor. Thomas Jefferson was appointed to work as the Albermarle County surveyor in Virginia in 1773. He also promoted surveying by sending Lewis & Clark on their expedition to explore the land gained through the Louisiana Purchase. 4. Henry David Thoreau Though most might know of Thoreau as an author, he actually became a surveyor in the 1850s before he published his books. Being a surveyor allowed Thoreau to use his career to facilitate his hobby. Thoreau used his observations to journal his ideas. 5. Benjamin Banneker As a self-taught African-American mathematician and surveyor, Benjamin Banneker was remarkably successful. In 1789, Washington even appointed Banneker to be part of the team surveying the future site of Washington, D.C. The project took about two years. 6. Abraham Lincoln The nation’s 16th president got his start as a self-educated man in Kentucky. He worked as a storekeeper and postmaster in addition to surveying land and studying law at the same time. It is clear that Lincoln was a man with a great deal of talent and many skills, seeing how much time he spent participating in different types of work before he became president. Land surveyors The legacy of land surveyors Lewis and Clark is strong. 7 & 8: William Clark & Meriwether Lewis Lewis and Clark were tasked with some of the most intensive land surveying in American history. While Lewis had a reputation as more of a planner, Clark was an expert surveyor and mapmaker. Together, the partners traveled across the land then known as the Louisiana Purchase, making their way to Oregon to scout it out.

Reasons To Survey Your Land Although a land survey may seem tedious and unnecessary, in fact there are many cases in which you should have your land surveyed, to save confusion or legal troubles later. A land surveyor will research available documents concerning your land, including titles and previous surveys. He/she will also physically measure the property, checking these dimensions against the previous records to find any discrepancies. Here are some important reasons to ...Continue reading

Why GIS doesn't replace the need for Surveyors With all the readily available aerial and satellite imagery, it is a legitimate questions to ask if GIS can be used to replace surveyors to understand property issues and to resolve legal disputes involving parcel lines. The ability to access Google Maps or a local agency’s online mapping application to look up parcel lines and overlay them with aerial photography provides a good overview and can provide some answers to property... questions. However, all of this geographic data can’t replace legal boundary data. Property lines are not physical entities that are visible on aerial imagery or on base map data such as street networks. Those lines are created through a network of reference points (usually markers or monuments buried underground) and surface measurements between those points. This is what surveyors call ground evidence, or legal boundary data. GIS data is pulled together from a variety of sources with varying degrees of accuracy and precision. Overlaid together, the error found within each dataset is amplified. Therefore, overlaying a parcel database that may have an accuracy of +/- 10 feet onto aerial imagery with an accuracy of +/- 30 feet can lead to features ending up over 80 feet away from their true point. In addition, sometimes the source data is unknown, and the accompanying metadata is missing that would provide the user with an understanding of the currency and accuracy of the data. Legal disputes that arise over the precise location of property boundary lines need to be resolved based on the origination and use of legal boundary data documented over time by licensed surveyors. Surveying is highly regulated and comes with legal requirements for the methods used to record property information. Surveyors are required by law to meet standards for experience and to pass examinations in order to be licensed. These laws are, in effect, consumer protection laws that ensure property rights and public safety. Therefore, locating your property lines on the ground will still require the preparation of a current survey from a reputable, professional land surveyor. If you want to avoid potential conflicts with your adjacent property owners that might lead to litigation, a proper land survey provided under the duties and obligations of professional licensure is still your best insurance. If you are ever sued for encroachment of another’s property, which can be a financial burden for most individuals or businesses, a professionally prepared and sealed land survey, based on the highly relevant legal boundary data, is still an excellent defense.