This is a guest post by former Library geography and map specialist Kathy Hart and former Library intern Sandhya Rajan.
For a summer enrichment project, we invite children and their adults to use the Library’s collections as inspiration for practicing skills of measurement using the methods of early surveyors.
To begin, you can view the Map of Howland Place on Long Island in New York or the Plan of the Fairhaven Slate Quarry Estate in Vermont, both held in the Library’s Geography and Map Division, as examples of survey maps made using Gunter’s chain. Next, read about George Washington’s interest and expertise in surveying in this short essay or one of these letters from a surveyor in 1882 to learn more about the experience of surveyors:
Letters from Uriah W. Oblinger to Laura I. Oblinger, 1882
- June 8: I rec’d [received] your letter yesterday evening…we run our line within one half mile of town this forenoon, and this afternoon we ran through, & tomorrow I suppose we will have to locate every street, fence, building and privy, that comes near our line I tell you these towns are a big job.
- May 19: Rec’d your letter yesterday…I have had to carry chain…as one of the chain men…I was in water about all the time, sometimes 3 ft deep.
To create your own Gunter’s Chain, measure 66 feet of rope, yarn, or string, and tie knots or make a mark every 7.92 inches. Then select a location to measure—it could be a room, the exterior of your house or apartment building, your yard, or a neighborhood park.
Make a map of your measured area, using the Map of Howland Place as an example. Add items like those on the map to illustrate it (trees, sidewalks, etc.), and include your scale in chains.
Then, have a conversation about it. What was the result? You might discuss what it might have been like to survey a town or county or other larger area in this way, what would life might have been like for a surveyor in the 18th century, or how surveying is done today.
To explore more, you can:
- Read more about historical surveying in these blog posts from the Geography and Map Division, parts 1 and 2
- Search “measured drawing” in the Library’s Historic American Building Survey collection to find architectural plans (see this example), pick one that you love then try calculating the area, or an interesting room or portion of it.
- Find resources about prominent African American scientist and surveyor Benjamin Banneker in this research guide.