9 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org Featured Article Collecting and Values Early and vintage surveying equipment is highly collectible. It is the surveyor’s heritage, representing about 200 years of advancing measurement technology. Some illustrate incredible craftsmanship and artistry (especially of the early makers). As with other collectibles there are highly desirable, usually rare instruments (such as the solar compass). And, there are the early Virginia and Pennsylvania makers that made compasses that are works of art. But, even instruments by prolific makers like W. & L.E. Gurley and Keuffel & Esser are desirable. There are many collectors of early American surveying equipment, some with very large collections. Most collectors buy and sell instruments, research makers and surveying equipment, and a few offer repair and restoration services. Most collectors focus on a particular maker (or two), and others focus on the makers of a particular city (St. Louis, for example), and others are interested in a particular instrument form (transits with unusual attachments, for example). There are online resources for early surveying equipment. Some are www.surveyhistory. org run by David Ingram, the Facebook page, Antique Surveying Instrument & Ephemera run by Dale Beeks, and www. compleatsurveyor.com by Russ Uzes. Among the collector community there is broad and deep knowledge of early American surveying equipment, but that knowledge is not well documented. There are not many reference books on the makers and their equipment. A few have been covered in articles and short treatises but there are not good reference materials on the broad topic. What are we going to do with Grandpa’s surveying stuff, and what’s it worth? Regrettably, there is not a national museum or repository where surveying equipment can be donated. Beloved equipment left to families or owned by old surveyors and seeking a home have limited options. The Smithsonian will not accept any such equipment, except for historically important equipment with known provenance. Most such equipment is not highly valuable. It is likely 90 percent of such equipment would be worth less than $1000 per piece. Eight percent would likely be worth up to $10,000. One and one-half percent up to $100,000. And the last 0.5 percent over $100,000. Most collectors will have no interest in about 90 percent the equipment offered to them (they already have plenty of early to mid1900s Gurley and K&E transits and levels). The best recipient for most low- to midlevel surveying equipment may be a local museum, particularly if the equipment was used in the area by a local surveyor. As with most collectibles, old or vintage surveying equipment is not worth what it was 10 or 20 years ago. The rare, unusual, historically important pieces have not lost their value during that time period and can easily be sold. The Future Boundary surveyors, being mensurators, detectives, and historians, have an appreciation for the equipment that laid out America. The equipment is our heritage, to be preserved, admired, studied, and displayed. Every boundary surveyor needs an old compass and a chain proudly displayed on their desk. Dr. Elgin is a surveying practitioner, educator, researcher, and author. He owns a large collection of early American surveying equipment. He is expert in the Chandlee family of makers, John S. Hougham (Indiana), and the St. Louis makers. He’s written several books including Riparian Boundaries for Missouri, Legal Principles of Boundary Location for Arkansas, and The U.S. Public Land Survey System for Missouri. He coauthored the Sokkia (Lietz) Ephemeris. He can be reached at elgin1682@gmail.com. An assortment of chains: Gunter’s Chain, 66 feet. A half-chain, 33 feet. Railroad or Engineer’s Chain, 100 feet. Boundary surveyors, being mensurators, detectives, and historians, have an appreciation for the equipment that laid out America. The equipment is our heritage, to be preserved, admired, studied, and displayed.
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