History Of Alabama Land Surveying

Prior to the Revolutionary War, what we know as Alabama was populated almost entirely by various Native American tribes.  What few European settlers that were there were mostly clustered around the borders of other states, especially Georgia and Florida. At one time, Alabama was part of the British Province of Illinois, the British Province of Carolina, the British Province of West Florida, the Spanish colony of Florida, and the US Mississippi Territory.  In fact, at one point, there were British, French, and Spanish settlements within its borders all at the same time. With its borders changing so often during its development, it’s no wonder that land surveying played a large role in the time between its first settlement in 1663 to its inception as a state in 1821.

What would become the state of Alabama began its formation during the colonial period when King Charles II of England created the Carolina Colony and set the 31st parallel as its boundary.  This line is now Alabama’s southern border with Florida. The Yazoo Land Fraud in Georgia affected the northern and western borders. Some of Georgia’s land was confiscated by the federal government as a result of the shady dealings, handing some of the lands over to Alabama.  As well, a mapping error led to the northwestern border of Alabama being very different from how it was originally intended.  The surveyors were instructed to start the border line at the mouth of Bear Creek, and travel up to the southernmost source, then head due east for 120 miles, then north to the Tennessee River.  The problem with this was that the description was not accurate; when the surveyors tried to follow the line as instructed, they found themselves about three miles east of the Tennessee River, near Nickajack Cave. This unintended monument would become a regional landmark where the boundaries of Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia meet.

As much influence as the border changes of other states have had on Alabama, surveys which occurred within its borders would also affect the rest of the United States. Major Andrew Ellicott was commissioned by George Washington (himself a land surveyor) to survey the line of demarcation between the new United States and Spain between 1798 and 1800. This line was, again, to run along the 31st parallel. This became the first officially surveyed U.S. boundary.  The Ellicott Stone was the only stone monument set by Major Ellicott while he completed his survey. It is located in Mobile County, Alabama, on Seymour’s Bluff, fifty feet above the Mobile River. The sandstone monolith still stands today, and marks the intersection of the St. Stephens Meridian and the St. Stephens baseline.  The Ellicott Stone was used as the initial point to lay out the townships and ranges north of the 31st parallel.

The history of land surveys in Alabama has two distinct and somewhat opposite paths: the effect of outside surveys on Alabama’s borders, and the effect of surveys conducted within Alabama that affected the division of land within other regions of the United States.

Charles Lee Iner, RLS
May 2009