History of Surveying in the United States

The United States has a long and proud history of surveying. Skyscrapers in our modern cities are laid out based on legal descriptions prepared by surveyors well over 200 years ago.

Some of the most famous names in History were surveyors. Faces of three of these surveyors are immortalized on Mount Rushmore. In the early 1800’s, 20 years before Michigan became a state, the federal government ordered its survey.

In a process that took nearly 30 years, the entire state was surveyed in to one-mile square sections, with monuments placed every half mile. This original survey is the basis of nearly all surveys performed in Michigan to date.

Today surveyors occupy the same points that were first set nearly 200 years ago. Our work, like that of the first surveys, will endure this same test of time. At James M. Gorinac Surveyors we recognize our role in history. We are humbled by the surveyors whom came before us and are proud to be a part of this great profession.