Place

Surveys

A survey determines and delineates the form, extent, and position of a tract of land by taking linear and angular measurements and by applying the principles of geometry and trigonometry.

Surveys of San José were conducted within months of the American takeover of Alta California. The Mexican system of land ownership and mapping – or diseños - provided only approximate boundaries for pueblos, ranchos, church lands, etc. Lands were described as bounded by trees, rocks, creeks, and other somewhat impermanent markers.

The first surveyor of San José was Chester Lyman, a Connecticut native and Yale graduate. Lyman completed an official Map of San José in May 1849. Another of Lyman’s 1849 surveys laid out the burial ground which would later be known as Oak Hill Cemetery.

Lyman’s survey placed the San Juan Bautista Hills into the area called Pueblo Tract No. 1, thus making it part of the lands belonging to the town of San José. When California joined the United States, pueblo lands were made available for sale to the public while private lands were subject to certification of ownership through the courts.

Learn about Oak Hill Memorial Park