Surveyor's Half Chain
Dateca.1820-1860
OriginAmerica (probably)
MediumIron
DimensionsLength: 33 feet 1.5 inches; 397.5 in (33.12 ft)
Credit LineGift of C. Harper Anderson.
Object number1965-236,3
DescriptionSurveyor's iron half chain (33 feet) composed of long links joined by smaller ones, with large swivel-mounted rings on either end.Label TextSurveyors calculated distance using a Gunter’s chain, a lengthy instrument of a standardized 66 feet. American surveyors preferred the half-chain (33 feet) because the shorter length was easier to use in wooded terrain. To “run” a chain line, the lead chain carrier pulled the chain taut, in the direction of a landmark, sticking chaining pins in the ground to mark the distance of one chain run. Carrying ten chaining pins between them, the two chain carriers tracked the amount of chain lines run by the number of pins held.ProvenanceThe surveying equipment was used by Peter McGee, Surveyor of Albemarle County, Virginia. In his youth, McGee was in Hillsboro, Virginia, as a merchant. He died on his farm south of Ivy Depot in 1888. He gave the equipment to the donor's grandfather C. Harper Anderson, who gave it to his son, Alfred Scott Anderson. The latter in turn gave it to his son, the donor, C. Harper Anderson.
ca.1775-1825
ca. 1750-1850
ca. 1780
1800-1801 (possibly)
