Education and Texts

Many of the early American surveyors were self-taught or learned the techniques from friends or as apprentices. George Washington was taught surveying by some of his early schoolteachers, attaining a high degree of proficiency in the art by the age of fifteen. (Bedini, p. 144)

In many Eastern cities, classes in surveying were offered as part of night schooling conducted for local apprentices. These night classes also served students requiring additional study before entering college.

Among the earliest academies offering courses in surveying were those at Charleston, SC, opened in 1712; New York, founded by John Walton, a Yale graduate, in 1723; and Boston, taught by John Vinal in 1727. Isaac Greenwood, a professor at Harvard, gave evening lectures during the school year and taught a private school during college vacation. Thomas Godfrey and Andrew Lamb set up evening schools in the practical sciences in Philadelphia before 1750. Among later schools were those taught by Robert Patterson in Philadelphia, 1768-1774, and by Christopher Colles in Philadelphia and New York. (Bedini, pp.155-162).