Seeing like a colony: The virginia land surveyor

Surveyors in colonial Virginia were among the wealthiest members of society, with a social status rivaling that of members of the House of Burgesses and plantation owners. Many received large land grants from the Governor’s Council, which directly led to their wealth. We argue that allowing surveyors to acquire extensive land holdings advanced the colonial government’s ambition to expand the boundaries of the colony, most effectively achieved by settling people on the frontier. Surveyors, who had a comparative advantage in knowing the geography, location, and quality of unclaimed land, could reduce the measurement and search costs associated with locating fertile tracts. By granting property rights to the western frontier to surveyors, the government enabled them to identify the best lands and sell them to settlers, thereby lowering transaction costs in land markets. Using newly constructed data on Virginia surveyors, land grant records, and maps of surveyors’ land, we provide evidence of how surveyors acquired agriculturally productive land to sell to incoming settlers.