New York State Engineer and Surveyor Maps and Descriptions of Western Division Lands Permanently Appropriated for Use of the…

Arranged by district and therein roughly chronological by year of survey certification.

The series consists of blueprint maps and descriptions of lands permanently appropriated by New York State for use of state canals. The maps were prepared by the Office of the State Engineer and Surveyor as part of its responsibilities in surveying, mapping, and engineering the state's canals. Permanently appropriated lands were taken by the State for use and not returned to property owners upon completion of the canal enlargement.

The blueprints are tracings of maps of land appropriations along the Erie Canal. Some carry the citation of the original field book and page number used, and/or the name and date of the preparer. Land appropriations from three counties are represented. Fifteen maps cover District No. 3 in Wayne County. The remaining maps cover District No. 4 in Monroe and Orleans counties.

Each map has a title bearing: the name of the person from whom the land was appropriated; the town and county in which the land is located; a scale (uniformly one inch to 100 feet); a note stating that all magnetic bearings are from the original blueline maps; a legend symbol to indicate gas pipe monuments; and a written survey description of the appropriated land.

In addition each map has a printed signature and date form with elements certifying accuracy by the resident engineer, stating examination for correctness by the State Engineer and Surveyor, and providing filing date in the Office of the State Engineer and Surveyor. The degree of completion of this certification statement varies from map to map; the concluding signature by the Superintendent of Public Works is rarely found.

A list in the front of the volume enumerates 22 maps sent to C.R. Waters, District Engineer for District 5, Buffalo, giving map number, name, town and county of maps missing from the volume. There is an alphabetical index at the end of the volume giving the name of the person from whom the land was appropriated and the map number. Numbers in the upper right corner of the maps correspond to the index numbers.

Series A0867 Whiteprint Copies of Maps of Portions of Canal Lands Belonging to the State of New York contains related records.

Alphabetical index by name of property owner to map number in back of volume.

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