History of surveying in the United States

The history of surveying in the United States included the mapping of large, unknown territories and the layout of the District of Columbia.

The first was Benjamin Banneker, a free ex-slave, who learned to read, write, and do the math from his grandmother.

As a result, Thomas Jefferson was involved in the creation of the Public Land Survey System.

Andrew Ellicott taught Lewis and Clark how to use a sextant to map their position.

Lewis and Clark would leave from Wood River, Illinois and document the wilderness all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Abraham Lincoln came to New Salem in 1831, and shortly after in 1832, he lost in his bid to become a state representative.

Unknown to Lincoln, Jimmy Short, a friend, bought all of his equipment, his horse, and his saddlebags.

Over the course of the 19th century, land surveying in America transformed from a prestigious, status-driven endeavor derived from the authority of a royal government and administration that had been inherited from the colonial era, to the more practical, and standardized modern field of public service as it is generally recognized today, which would lead the way in the vast expansion straight across the Continent to the West Coast.