Mobile Surveyors-exalting American Ingenuity

When first asked to name famous land surveyors, most people assume that there aren't any. However, this is far from the truth. In fact, there are many famous Mobile land surveyors throughout history, though they usually achieve fame for other activities. In fact, most professionals from centuries ago worked concurrently in several different professions, such as politics, military careers, exploration, or land surveying.

Did you know that George Washington was a land surveyor? At the age of 17, future president George Washington was appointed as the Surveyor General in Virginia in 1749. In that year, the English colony of Virginia planned to promote expansion by offering land speculators a thousand acres for every family they could convince to move west. He became the first Registered County Surveyor in America.

That same year, the colony began a promotion that offered thousands of acres to potential land prospectors who moved west. Because of this, George Washington became the first Registered County Surveyor in America. The man who surveyed the site that became Washington, D.C. our nation's capital, was named Benjamin Banneker.

Another famous surveyor, Thomas Jefferson, was also a U.S. President later in life. He was appointed County Surveyor for Albemarle County in Virginia in 1773. As Secretary of State under George Washington, and later as President, his appointment of surveyors later gave the young nation the direction to promote the settlement of the frontier.

He was personally appointed by George Washington to survey the site that eventually became the nation's capital. The project that surveyed Washington D.C. was completed between 1791 and 1793. Another American President that was a land surveyor earlier in his life was Thomas Jefferson. He was appointed to the position of Albemarle County surveyor in 1773.

Their maps were charted with great accuracy considering the era. The famous pioneer and explorer, Daniel Boone, born 1734-died 1820, was also a great land surveyor. In Kentucky, numerous land boundary disputes erupted at the time, and Daniel Boone was the man that solved many of them.

Charles Mason & Jeremiah Dixon's land surveying efforts survive in the "Mason-Dixon line", the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania. This line divided the "slave states" from the "free states" during debates in Congress over the Missouri Compromise in 1820. Today, this line is still used to distinguish the South from the North.

The famous "Mason-Dixon line" became a house-hold term after the Missouri Compromise, and was used frequently to reference the border during the war. Continuing the trend of presidents who began as land surveyors, Abraham Lincoln held a position as the Deputy County Surveyor before beginning his political career. He was also ran the general store and was postmaster. Mobile land surveyors and surveyors of all parts of America are the backbone of our national geographic history.