A Survey of Surveying: Digitizing the Map Collection of 19th Century Empresario and Land Surveyor Stephen F. Austin

Since 1901, the University of Texas–and by extent, the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History–has had in their possession a collection of maps that previously belonged to Stephen F. Austin, often hailed as the “Father of Texas.” Many of these unique hand-drawn maps and land surveys were completed by Austin himself in the course of his work settling Texas in the 1820s and 1830s. The goal of this project is to shine a light on this historic collection through digitization and online availability, including the creation of web-based content that will hopefully increase researchers’ interest in the materials. Using a state-of-the-art overhead camera setup capable of photographing the largest and smallest maps in the Briscoe Center’s archives, I created high-quality digital images of all 119 maps and land surveys, which included several pamphlets of Austin’s field notes that give insight into his land surveying process. Each image will be embedded with detailed metadata, which I prepared according to the standards in use at the Briscoe Center. The end result is a collection of digitized maps that will help minimize the handling of the fragile originals and expand their reach to all those interested in learning more about this significant era in Texas history.