People of Surveying
From Compass to White House: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as Surveyors
A factual look at the real surveying work of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the records they left, and the land systems in which they worked.
From the Index
Tag: United States
Reports, histories, and working notes filed under this subject.
Land & Boundaries
Lines Across a Young Nation: How the Rectangular Survey Organized the American West
How the Land Ordinance of 1785, field crews, monuments, and public records transformed a geometric idea into the framework of the American landscape.
Measuring the World
A History of Datums in America, Part 2: NAD 83, HARN, NAVD 88, and the GPS Era
How NAD 83 evolved through the 1986 adjustment, 83/90-era networks, HARN, FBN, CORS96, NSRS2007, and NAD 83(2011)—and how NAVD 88 replaced NGVD 29.
Measuring the World
A History of Datums in America, Part 1: From Colonial Surveys to NAD 27 and NGVD 29
From colonial metes-and-bounds surveys and Mason and Dixon to the Coast Survey, U.S. Standard Datum, NAD 27, State Plane coordinates, and NGVD 29.
Engineering & Infrastructure
Surveying the Iron Road, Part 1: How Early American Railroads Found a Line
How reconnaissance, profiles, curves, grades, and maps turned proposed railroads into buildable routes.