Interested in the history of surveying? This science is outlined in the latest addition to Springfield, Ill., museums – the National Survey Museum. This museum is important because it offers insight into the systems that delineate every field, building, road and other properties built each year.

The museum is divided into two sections; the first is the historical section, which shares how surveying originated. Robert Church, director of the museum, said, “While there is debate over where surveying started, evidence points to the first systematic way of surveying starting in Egypt.

“Every year the Nile River in Egypt would flood and demolish the property lines boundaries. As a result of monuments being washed away, the Egyptians created an occupation known as harpedonapte, or rope stretchers, to measure and record land boundaries.”

A mural appears on the wall showing how the rope-stretchers created a rope with knots tied at a specific distance that would allow them to accurately measure the boundaries. Thus, the rope-stretcher could record how many knots were between monuments to recreate the land after the flood. This allowed them to accurately record plots of land.

The fundamentals of surveying that the Egyptians created were adopted by the Romans. In more modern times, the museum also profiles many famous surveyors such as our country’s first president, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. Washington learned surveying at the tender age of 16, and by the time he was 17 he became the Deputy Land Surveyor.
“He would go on to survey most of northern Virginia. In 1766, he surveyed his River Farm, which was his original estate. Due to his surveying of Virginia, it gave him an edge in the French and Indian War, which was where he became a famed soldier,” Church explained.

Jefferson’s father, Peter, was a surveyor for the English Crown, and as a result, his son was also a surveyor. Jefferson would have used the surveying method called metes and bounds. This system used monuments to determine land boundaries. Church said this type of system used monuments that could be anything from a witness tree to a rock, to a river.

“The problem,” he pointed out, “is none of these were necessarily permanent.” After this method was used in the original 13 colonies, the next method was the Rectangular System.

Lincoln was also a surveyor. His connection to surveying came after his unsuccessful run in 1832 for state representative. “After losing in 1833, John Calhoun, Sangamon County surveyor, asked Lincoln to be a surveyor,” Church said.

During the years of 1833-37, Lincoln would survey five towns, 30 lands and numerous roads. “Due to the exposure, he would also win a state representative seat in 1834,” Church explained.

The museum offers an exhibit of an array of maps and instruments that bring both the history and modern aspects of surveying to light. The second  section of the museum is overseen by Assistant Director Matthew Parbs, who shares the future of surveying and the next frontier through NOAA’s Science on a Sphere – a 68-inch-diameter globe.

The globe reflects what the Earth looks like from space. There are many videos, too, that offer a unique perspective of our planet and our connection to the universe.

Located in Springfield, north of the Old State Capitol at 521 E. Washington, this museum is the perfect addition to the city and its history. Check out the website for details at www.nationalmuseumofsurveying.org or call 217-523-3130.

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.