New York State Department of Transportation Lands Under Water Survey Project Records

Numerically by project number.

From 1846 to 1925, the Office of the State Engineer and Surveyor was responsible for planning, construction, maintenance, and monitoring of New York's canal system, and had additional responsibilities for highways and railroads. It also had responsibility for the survey and sale of lands under water and other state lands.

In 1926, the Office of the State Engineer and Surveyor was abolished and the newly established Department of Public Works (DPW) assumed most of its functions (except for the sale of lands under water and unappropriated state lands). The Department of Transportation (DOT) was established in 1967 and took over many of the responsibilities of the defunct DPW.

In 1916, the State Legislature appropriated $5,000 to the State Engineer and Surveyor for conducting surveys associated with applications for lands under water transactions. Beginning with the office of the State Engineer and Surveyor, who assigned surveys of lands under water to a division engineer and continuing under DPW and DOT until the late 1970s, state employees carried on the tradition of conducting surveys on behalf of applicants for lands under water (LUW) transactions. The LUW applications and survey maps were ultimately filed with the Commissioners of the Land Office and later, the Office of General Services.

This series consists of lands under water survey project records, which resulted from surveys conducted on behalf of applicants for lands under water transactions. Applicants could be private individuals or municipalities. The records also include some documentation of transfer of jurisdiction to other state agencies. The records are filed with applicant name, project location, and project number on binding. Some files also include PIN and "H" series numbers. Documented projects were located in the five boroughs of New York City and Long Island as well as Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess, Orange, and Greene counties.

The survey project file consists of survey receipts and logs that track the surveyor (staff) hours and rate of pay for the survey work, survey description, phone message slips, survey calculations, and copy of the adjacent upland deed. Also included are newspaper articles (e.g., describe proposed housing development project to which the survey relates) and survey maps. Each lands under water transaction produced two maps: one map which is a detailed survey map of the parcel(s) in question and a second map which is a broad overview map of the area where the parcel(s) are located. The blueprint maps are folded to fit within standard filing folders.

B2645Series B2645, New York State Department of Transportation lands under water survey project index cards, serves as an index to this series. The last set of numbers in the H-series number indicates the survey project number which is located in this series.

These records were transferred under appraisal report 18-09.

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