Surveyors have special reason to celebrate President’s Day, since Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and even Teddy Roosevelt all had surveying and map-making in their backgrounds. Jefferson’s surveying experience informed his acts as president, including the establishment of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) and the Louisiana Purchase that added 827,000 square miles of land to the United States.

By the 1800s, the westward expansion was continuing unabated, despite land being inhabited by indigenous peoples as well as claimed by other countries.

Did you know that the highest mountain in the world is named for a surveyor who never laid eyes on it?

George Everest was the Surveyor General of India from 1830-1843, during the time when Great Britain was consolidating its control over the country in order to have full access to its vast resources. His work was so important to the fulfillment of that goal that the mountain was eventually named after him – despite his protests.