07/03/2026
Every survey has a beginning, and for much of this area, that beginning was here.
Crew Chiefs Drew and Kameron recently visited the 1870 Initial Point near Davis, Oklahoma, one of the original monuments used to establish survey control for land division in the region.
When the Public Land Survey System was implemented, surveyors established Initial Points to serve as permanent reference locations for measuring townships and ranges. Working with chains, compasses, astronomical observations, and remarkable perseverance, those crews laid the groundwork for property ownership, infrastructure development, and resource management that continues to this day.
Modern surveyors may use satellites instead of stars and GNSS receivers instead of chains, but our profession still relies heavily on the work performed by those early crews.
Every boundary retracement, right-of-way survey, and construction layout begins with understanding and respecting the original survey evidence that came before us.
There's something special about standing where it all started.
