Research


Administrative History

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.