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73-517: Geographical features include: [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from "Founders Peaks" . Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . 79°10′S 86°15′W  /  79.167°S 86.250°W  / -79.167; -86.250 This Ellsworth Land location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System ( GNIS )

146-495: A "Concise" subset of the NGNDB that listed "major features", and a "Historical" subset that included the features that no longer exist. There is no differentiation amongst different types of populated places. In the words of the aforementioned 1986 USACE report, "[a] subdivision having one inhabitant is as significant as a major metropolitan center such as New York City ". In comparing GNIS populated place records with data from

219-588: A 1962 replacement of the "Nigger" racial pejorative for African Americans with "Negro" and a 1974 replacement of the "Jap" racial pejorative for Japanese Americans with "Japanese". In 2015, a cross-reference of the GNIS database against the Racial Slur Database had found 1441 racial slur placenames, every state of the United States having them, with California having 159 and the state with

292-694: A 2008 book on ethnic slurs in U.S. placenames Mark Monmonier of Syracuse University discovered "Niger Hill" in Potter County, Pennsylvania , an erroneous transcription of "Nigger Hill" from a 1938 map, and persuaded the USBGN to change it to "Negro Hill". In November 2021, the United States Secretary of the Interior issued an order instructing that "Squaw" be removed from usage by the U.S. federal government. Prior efforts had included

365-569: A Corps of Engineers ... that the said Corps ... shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York and shall constitute a military academy." Until 1866, the superintendent of the United States Military Academy was always an Engineer Officer. The General Survey Act of 1824 authorized the use of Army engineers to survey road and canal routes for the growing nation. That same year, Congress passed an "Act to Improve

438-469: A doctrinal framework for employing capabilities; and remaining an adaptive institution in order to provide Commanders with the freedom of action they need to successfully execute Unified Land Operations. There are several other organizations within the Corps of Engineers: USACE provides support directly and indirectly to the warfighting effort. They build and help maintain much of the infrastructure that

511-451: A feature, are also recorded. Each feature receives a permanent, unique feature record identifier, sometimes called the GNIS identifier. The database never removes an entry, "except in cases of obvious duplication." The GNIS was originally designed for four major purposes: to eliminate duplication of effort at various other levels of government that were already compiling geographic data, to provide standardized datasets of geographic data for

584-463: A hand-selected unit of volunteer Army combat engineers trained in jungle warfare, knife fighting, and unarmed jujitsu ( hand-to-hand combat ) techniques. Working in camouflage, the Pioneers cleared jungle, prepared routes of advance and established bridgeheads for the infantry, as well as demolishing enemy installations. Five commanding generals (chiefs of staff after the 1903 reorganization) of

657-422: A later phase). Generic designations were given after specific names, so (for examples) Mount Saint Helens was recorded as "Saint Helens, Mount", although cities named Mount Olive , not actually being mountains, would not take "Mount" to be a generic part and would retain their order "Mount Olive". The primary geographic coordinates of features which occupy an area, rather than being a single point feature, were

730-454: A major provider of hydroelectric energy and the country's leading provider of recreation, Its role in responding to natural disasters also grew dramatically, especially following the devastating Mississippi Flood of 1927 . In the late 1960s, the agency became a leading environmental preservation and restoration agency. In 1944, specially trained army combat engineers were assigned to blow up underwater obstacles and clear defended ports during

803-506: A new emphasis on a more holistic approach to risk management. As part of this work, USACE is the number one provider of outdoor recreation in the U.S., so there is a significant emphasis on water safety. Army involvement in works "of a civil nature," including water resources, goes back almost to the origins of the U.S. Over the years, as the nation's needs have changed, so have the Army's Civil Works missions. Major areas of emphasis include

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876-412: A second Alaska file) data from the 1:100000 and 1:250000 scale USGS maps. Map names were recorded exactly as on the maps themselves, with the exceptions for diacritics as with the NGNDB. Unlike the NGNDB, locations were the geographic coördinates of the south-east corner of the given map, except for American Samoa and Guam maps where they were of the north-east cornder. The TMNDB was later renamed

949-578: A typical year, the Corps of Engineers responds to more than 30 Presidential disaster declarations, plus numerous state and local emergencies. Emergency responses usually involve cooperation with other military elements and Federal agencies in support of State and local efforts. Work comprises engineering and management support to military installations, global real estate support, civil works support (including risk and priorities), operations and maintenance of Federal navigation and flood control projects, and monitoring of dams and levees. More than 67 percent of

1022-434: A week. The battalion also deployed in support of post-Katrina operations. All of this work represents a significant investment in the nation's resources. Through its Civil Works program, USACE carries out a wide array of projects that provide coastal protection, flood protection, hydropower, navigable waters and ports, recreational opportunities, and water supply. Work includes coastal protection and restoration, including

1095-735: Is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories; the associated states of the Marshall Islands , Federated States of Micronesia , and Palau ; and Antarctica . It is a type of gazetteer . It was developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to promote

1168-443: Is or was human activity" not covered by a more specific feature class), "populated place" (a "place or area with clustered or scattered buildings"), "spring" (a spring ), "lava" (a lava flow , kepula , or other such feature), and "well" (a well ). Mountain features would fall into "ridge", "range", or "summit" classes. A feature class "tank" was sometimes used for lakes, which was problematic in several ways. This feature class

1241-500: Is responsible for Corps of Engineers policy and plans the future direction of all other USACE organizations. It comprises the executive office and 17 staff principals. USACE has two civilian directors who head up Military and Civil Works programs in concert with their respective DCG for the mission area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is organized geographically into eight permanent divisions, one provisional division, one provisional district, and one research command reporting directly to

1314-505: Is supervised by the civilian Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) . Three deputy commanding generals (major generals) report to the chief of engineers, who have the following titles: Deputy Commanding General, Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operation, and Deputy Commanding General for Military and International Operations. The Corps of Engineers headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. The headquarters staff

1387-696: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through its security planning, force protection, research and development, disaster preparedness efforts, and quick response to emergencies and disasters. The CoE conducts its emergency response activities under two basic authorities — the Flood Control and Coastal Emergency Act ( Pub. L.   84–99 ), and the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( Pub. L.   93–288 ). In

1460-561: The Geographic Cell Names database (GCNDB hereafter) in the 1990s. The Generic database was in essence a machine-readable glossary of terms and abbreviations taken from the map sources, with their definitions, grouped into collections of related terms. The National Atlas database was an abridged version of the NGNDB that contained only those entries that were in the index to the USGS National Atlas of

1533-714: The Thematic Mapper of the Landsat program , researchers from the University of Connecticut in 2001 discovered that "a significant number" of populated places in Connecticut had no identifiable human settlement in the land use data and were at road intersections. They found that such populated places with no actual settlement often had "Corner" in their names, and hypothesized that either these were historical records or were "cartographic locators". In surveying in

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1606-675: The United States Army held engineer commissions early in their careers. All transferred to other branches before being promoted to the top position. They were Alexander Macomb , George B. McClellan , Henry W. Halleck , Douglas MacArthur , and Maxwell D. Taylor . Occasional civil disasters, including the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 , resulted in greater responsibilities for the Corps of Engineers. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and

1679-667: The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore provide other examples of this. The Chief of Engineers and Commanding General (Lt. general) of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has three mission areas: combat engineers, military construction, and civil works. For each mission area the Chief of Engineers/Commanding General is supervised by a different person. For civil works the Commanding General

1752-548: The 1990s (still including tape and paper) to floppy disc , over FTP , and on CD-ROM . The CD-ROM edition only included the NGNDB, the AGNDB, the GCNDB, and a bibliographic reference database (RDB); but came with database search software that ran on PC DOS (or compatible) version 3.0 or later. The FTP site included extra topical databases: a subset of the NGNDB that only included the records with feature classes for populated places,

1825-578: The Army Corps of Engineers contributed to the success of numerous missions throughout the Civil War. They were responsible for building pontoon and railroad bridges, forts and batteries, destroying enemy supply lines (including railroads), and constructing roads for the movement of troops and supplies. Both sides recognized the critical work of engineers. On 6 March 1861, once the South had seceded from

1898-458: The Army and the Air Force use to train, house, and deploy troops . USACE built and maintained navigation systems and ports provide the means to deploy vital equipment and other material. Corps of Engineers Research and Development (R&D) facilities help develop new methods and measures for deployment, force protection, terrain analysis, mapping, and other support. USACE directly supports

1971-797: The Corps of Engineers in March 1863. Civil works are managed and supervised by the Assistant Secretary of the Army . Army civil works include three U.S. Congress -authorized business lines: navigation, flood and storm damage protection, and aquatic ecosystem restoration. Civil works is also tasked with administering the Clean Water Act Section 404 program, including recreation, hydropower, and water supply at USACE flood control reservoirs, and environmental infrastructure. The civil works staff oversee construction, operation, and maintenance of dams, canals and flood protection in

2044-603: The Engineer Regiment is commanded by the Engineer Commandant, currently a position filled by an Army brigadier general. The Engineer Regiment includes the U.S. Army Engineer School (USAES) which publishes its mission as: Generate the military engineer capabilities the Army needs: training and certifying Soldiers with the right knowledge, skills, and critical thinking; growing and educating professional leaders; organizing and equipping units; establishing

2117-572: The GNIS web site and can review the justifications and supporters of the proposals. The usual sources of name change requests are an individual state's board on geographic names, or a county board of governors. This does not always succeed, the State Library of Montana having submitted three large sets of name changes that have not been incorporated into the GNIS database. Conversely, a group of middle school students in Alaska succeeded, with

2190-950: The HQ. Within each division, there are several districts. Districts are defined by watershed boundaries for civil works projects and by political boundaries for military projects. U.S. Army engineer units outside of USACE Districts and not listed below fall under the Engineer Regiment of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which comprises the majority of Army engineer soldiers. The Regiment includes combat engineers , whose duties are to breach obstacles; construct fighting positions, fixed/floating bridges, and obstacles and defensive positions; place and detonate explosives; conduct route clearance operations; emplace and detect landmines; and fight as provisional infantry when required. It also includes support engineers, who are more focused on construction and sustainment. Headquartered at Fort Leonard Wood, MO,

2263-661: The Navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers" and to remove sand bars on the Ohio and "planters, sawyers, or snags" (trees fixed in the riverbed) on the Mississippi, for which the Corps of Engineers was identified as the responsible agency. Separately authorized on 4 July 1838, the Corps of Topographical Engineers consisted only of officers and was used for mapping and the design and construction of federal civil works and other coastal fortifications and navigational routes. It

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2336-527: The U.S., as well as a wide range of public works throughout the world. Some of its dams, reservoirs, and flood control projects also serve as public outdoor recreation facilities. Its hydroelectric projects provide 24% of U.S.  hydropower capacity. The Corps of Engineers is headquartered in Washington, D.C. , and has a budget of $ 7.8 billion (FY2021). The corps's mission is to "deliver vital public and military engineering services; partnering in peace and war to strengthen our nation's security, energize

2409-531: The Union, its legislature passed an act to create a Confederate Corps of Engineers. The South was initially at a disadvantage in engineering expertise; of the initial 65 cadets who resigned from West Point to accept positions with the Confederate Army, only seven were placed in the Corps of Engineers. The Confederate Congress passed legislation that authorized a company of engineers for every division in

2482-466: The United States , with the coördinates published in the latter substituted for the coördinates from the former. The Board on Geographic Names database was a record of investigative work of the USGS Board on Geographic Names ' Domestic Names Committee, and decisions that it had made from 1890 onwards, as well as names that were enshrined by Acts of Congress . Elevation and location data followed

2555-905: The United States, a "Corner" is a corner of the surveyed polygon enclosing an area of land, whose location is, or was (since corners can become "lost" or "obliterated" ), marked in various ways including with trees known as "bearing trees" ("witness trees" in older terminology ) or "corner monuments". From analysing Native American names in the database in order to compile a dictionary, professor William Bright of UCLA observed in 2004 that some GNIS entries are "erroneous; or refer to long-vanished railroad sidings where no one ever lived". Such false classifications have propagated to other geographical information sources, such as incorrectly classified train stations appearing as towns or neighborhoods on Google Maps. The GNIS accepts proposals for new or changed names for U.S. geographical features through The National Map Corps . The general public can make proposals at

2628-574: The broadcasting masts for radio and television stations, civil divisions, regional and historic names, individual buildings, roads, and triangulation station names. The databases were initially available on paper (2 to 3 spiral-bound volumes per state), on microfiche , and on magnetic tape encoded (unless otherwise requested) in EBCDIC with 248-byte fixed-length records in 4960-byte blocks . The feature classes for association with each name included (for examples) "locale" (a "place at which there

2701-426: The coordinates were taken to be those of a primary civic feature such as the city hall or town hall , main public library , main highway intersection, main post office, or central business district regardless of changes over time; these coordinates are called the "primary point". Secondary coordinates were only an aid to locating which topographic map(s) the feature extended across, and were "simply anywhere on

2774-538: The creation of a "Chief Engineer for the Army". Congress authorized a corps of engineers for the United States on 11 March 1779. The Corps as it is known today came into being on 16 March 1802, when the president was authorized to "organize and establish a Corps of Engineers ... that the said Corps ... shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York and shall constitute a Military Academy ." A Corps of Topographical Engineers , authorized on 4 July 1838, merged with

2847-597: The economy and reduce risks from disasters." Its most visible civil works missions include: The history of United States Army Corps of Engineers can be traced back to the American Revolution . On 16 June 1775, the Continental Congress organized the Corps of Engineers, whose initial staff included a chief engineer and two assistants. Colonel Richard Gridley became General George Washington 's first chief engineer. One of his first tasks

2920-424: The entire United States and that were abridged versions of the data in the other 57: one for the 50,000 most well known populated places and features, and one for most of the populated places. The files were compiled from all of the names to be found on USGS topographic maps, plus data from various state map sources. In phase 1, elevations were recorded in feet only, with no conversion to metric, and only if there

2993-423: The feature and on the topographic map with which it is associated". River sources were determined by the shortest drain, subject to the proximities of other features that were clearly related to the river by their names. The USGS Topographic Map Names database (TMNDB hereafter) was also 57 computer files containing the names of maps: 56 for 1:24000 scale USGS maps as with the NGNDB, the 57th being (rather than

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3066-656: The field; by 1865, the CSA had more engineer officers serving in the field of action than the Union Army. One of the main projects for the Army Corps of Engineers was constructing railroads and bridges. Union forces took advantage of such Confederate infrastructure because railroads and bridges provided access to resources and industry. The Confederate engineers, using slave labor, built fortifications that were used both offensively and defensively, along with trenches that made them harder to penetrate. This method of building trenches

3139-1120: The following: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers environmental mission has two major focus areas: restoration and stewardship . The Corps supports and manages numerous environmental programs, that run the gamut from cleaning up areas on former military installations contaminated by hazardous waste or munitions to helping establish/reestablish wetlands that helps endangered species survive. Some of these programs include Ecosystem Restoration, Formerly Used Defense Sites, Environmental Stewardship, EPA Superfund , Abandoned Mine Lands, Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program , Base Realignment and Closure, 2005 , and Regulatory. This mission includes education as well as regulation and cleanup. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has an active environmental program under both its Military and Civil Programs. The Civil Works environmental mission that ensures all USACE projects, facilities and associated lands meet environmental standards. The program has four functions: compliance, restoration, prevention, and conservation. The Corps also regulates all work in wetlands and waters of

3212-586: The goods consumed by Americans and more than half of the nation's oil imports are processed through deepwater ports maintained by the Corps of Engineers, which maintains more than 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of commercially navigable channels across the U.S. In both its Civil Works mission and Military Construction program, the Corps of Engineers is responsible for billions of dollars of the nation's infrastructure. For example, USACE maintains direct control of 609 dams, maintains or operates 257 navigation locks, and operates 75 hydroelectric facilities generating 24% of

3285-439: The government and others, to index all of the names found on official U.S. government federal and state maps, and to ensure uniform geographic names for the federal government. Phase 1 lasted from 1978 to 1981, with a precursor pilot project run over the states of Kansas and Colorado in 1976, and produced 5 databases. It excluded several classes of feature because they were better documented in non-USGS maps, including airports,

3358-585: The help of their teachers, a professor of linguistics, and a man who had been conducting a years-long project to collect Native American placenames in the area, in changing the names of several places that they had spotted in class one day and challenged for being racist, including renaming "Negrohead Creek" to an Athabascan name Lochenyatth Creek and "Negrohead Mountain" to Tl'oo Khanishyah Mountain, both of which translate to "grassy tussocks" in Lower Tanana and Gwichʼin respectively. Likewise, in researching

3431-638: The invasion of Normandy. During World War II, the Army Corps of Engineers in the European Theater of Operations was responsible for building numerous bridges, including the first and longest floating tactical bridge across the Rhine at Remagen , and building or maintaining roads vital to the Allied advance across Europe into the heart of Germany. In the Pacific theater, the "Pioneer troops" were formed,

3504-425: The location of the feature's mouth, or of the approximate center of the area of the feature. Such approximate centers were "eye-balled" estimates by the people performing the digitization, subject to the constraint that centers of areal features were not placed within other features that are inside them. alluvial fans and river deltas counted as mouths for this purpose. For cities and other large populated places,

3577-646: The mid-19th century, Corps of Engineers' officers ran Lighthouse Districts in tandem with U.S. Naval officers. The Army Corps of Engineers played a significant role in the American Civil War . Many of the men who would serve in the top leadership in this organization were West Point graduates. Several rose to military fame and power during the Civil War. Some examples include Union generals George McClellan , Henry Halleck , and George Meade ; and Confederate generals Robert E. Lee , Joseph Johnston , and P.G.T. Beauregard . The versatility of officers in

3650-620: The military construction mission on 1 December 1941, after the Quartermaster Department struggled with the expanding mission, the Corps built facilities at home and abroad to support the U.S. Army and Air Force. During World War II the USACE program expanded to more than 27,000 military and industrial projects in a $ 15.3 billion mobilization effort. Included were aircraft, tank assembly, and ammunition plants; camps for 5.3 million soldiers; depots, ports, and hospitals; and

3723-651: The military construction mission, the chief of engineers is directed and supervised by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for installations, environment, and energy, whom the President appoints and the Senate confirms. Military construction relates to construction on military bases and worldwide installations. On 16 June 1775, the Continental Congress , gathered in Philadelphia , granted authority for

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3796-480: The military in the battle zone, making expertise available to commanders to help solve or avoid engineering (and other) problems. Forward Engineer Support Teams, FEST-A's or FEST-M's, may accompany combat engineers to provide immediate support, or to reach electronically into the rest of USACE for the necessary expertise. A FEST-A team is an eight-person detachment; a FEST-M is approximately 36. These teams are designed to provide immediate technical-engineering support to

3869-717: The most such names being Arizona. One of the two standard reference works for placenames in Arizona is Byrd Howell Granger's 1983 book Arizona's Names: X Marks the Place , which contains many additional names with racial slurs not in the GNIS database. Despite "Nigger" having been removed from federal government use by Stewart Udall , its replacement "Negro" still remained in GNIS names in 2015, as did " Pickaninny ", " Uncle Tom ", and " Jim Crow " and 33 places named "Niggerhead". There were 828 names containing "squaw", including 11 variations on "Squaw Tit" and "Squaw Teat", contrasting with

3942-440: The nation's hydropower and three percent of its total electricity. USACE inspects over 2,000 Federal and non-Federal levees every two years. Four billion gallons of water per day are drawn from the Corps of Engineers' 136 multi-use flood control projects comprising 9,800,000 acre-feet (12.1 km ) of water storage, making it one of the United States' largest water supply agencies. The 249th Engineer Battalion (Prime Power) ,

4015-415: The only active duty unit in USACE, generates and distributes prime electrical power in support of warfighting, disaster relief, stability and support operations as well as provides advice and technical assistance in all aspects of electrical power and distribution systems. The battalion deployed in support of recovery operations after 9/11 and was instrumental in getting Wall Street back up and running within

4088-604: The point where a dam is thought to be". The National Geographic Names database (NGNDB hereafter) was originally 57 computer files, one for each state and territory of the United States (except Alaska which got two) plus one for the District of Columbia. The second Alaska file was an earlier database, the Dictionary of Alaska Place Names that had been compiled by the USGS in 1967. A further two files were later added, covering

4161-650: The rapid construction of such landmark projects such as the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, Hanford and Oak Ridge among other places, and the Pentagon , the Department of Defense headquarters across the Potomac from Washington, DC. In civilian projects, the Corps of Engineers became the lead federal navigation and flood control agency. Congress significantly expanded its civil works activities, becoming

4234-412: The same rules as for the NGNDB. So too did names with diacritic characters. Phase 2 was broader in scope than phase 1, extending the scope to a much larger set of data sources. It ran from the end of phase 1 and had managed to completely process data from 42 states by 2003, with 4 still underway and the remaining 4 (Alaska, Kentucky, Michigan, and New York) awaiting the initial systematic compilation of

4307-455: The sources to use. Many more feature classes were included, including abandoned Native American settlements, ghost towns , railway stations on railway lines that no longer existed, housing developments , shopping centers , and highway rest areas . The actual compilation was outsourced by the U.S. government, state by state, to private entities such as university researchers. The Antarctica Geographic Names database (AGNDB hereafter)

4380-458: The standardization of feature names. Data were collected in two phases. Although a third phase was considered, which would have handled name changes where local usages differed from maps, it was never begun. The database is part of a system that includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps that confirm the feature or place name are cited. Variant names, alternatives to official federal names for

4453-851: The three mission areas are administered by a lieutenant general known as the chief of engineers /commanding general. The chief of engineers commands the Engineer Regiment, comprising combat engineer , rescue, construction, dive, and other specialty units, and answers directly to the Chief of Staff of the Army . Combat engineers, sometimes called sappers , form an integral part of the Army's combined arms team and are found in all Army service components: Regular Army, National Guard , and Army Reserve . Their duties are to breach obstacles; construct fighting positions, fixed/floating bridges, and obstacles and defensive positions; place and detonate explosives; conduct route clearance operations; emplace and detect landmines; and fight as provisional infantry when required. For

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4526-463: The use of "Nipple" in names with non- Native American allusions such as "Susies Nipple". United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers ( USACE ) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army . A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment , military construction , and civil works . USACE has 37,000 civilian and military personnel, making it one of

4599-574: The warfighter or in a disaster area. Corps of Engineers' professionals use the knowledge and skills honed on both military and civil projects to support the U.S. and local communities in the areas of real estate, contracting, mapping, construction, logistics, engineering, and management experience. Prior to their respective troop withdrawals in 2021, this included support for rebuilding Iraq , establishing infrastructure in Afghanistan , and supporting international and inter-agency services. In addition,

4672-474: The work of almost 26,000 civilians on civil-works programs throughout USACE provides a training ground for similar capabilities worldwide. USACE civilians volunteer for assignments worldwide. For example, hydropower experts have helped repair, renovate, and run hydropower dams in Iraq in an effort to help get Iraqis to become self-sustaining. USACE supports the United States' Department of Homeland Security and

4745-503: The world's largest public engineering, design, and construction management agencies. The USACE workforce is approximately 97% civilian, 3% active duty military. The civilian workforce is primarily located in the United States, Europe and in select Middle East office locations. Civilians do not function as active duty military and are not required to be in active war and combat zones; however, volunteer (with pay) opportunities do exist for civilians to do so. The day-to-day activities of

4818-757: Was added in the 1990s and comprised records for BGN-approved names in Antarctica and various off-lying islands such as the South Orkney Islands , the South Shetland Islands , the Balleny Islands , Heard Island , South Georgia , and the South Sandwich Islands . It only contained records for natural features, not for scientific outposts. The media on which one could obtain the databases were extended in

4891-449: Was an actual elevation recorded for the map feature. They were of either the lowest or highest point of the feature, as appropriate. Interpolated elevations, calculated by interpolation between contour lines , were added in phase 2. Names were the official name, except where the name contained diacritic characters that the computer file encodings of the time could not handle (which were in phase 1 marked with an asterisk for update in

4964-645: Was appointed colonel and commander of all engineers in the Continental Army and, on 17 November 1777, he was promoted to brigadier general. When the Continental Congress created a separate Corps of Engineers in May 1779, Duportail was appointed as its commander. In late 1781 he directed the construction of the allied U.S.-French siege works at the Battle of Yorktown . On 26 February 1783, the Corps

5037-597: Was disbanded. It was re-established during the Presidency of George Washington . From 1794 to 1802, the engineers were combined with the artillery as the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers . The Corps of Engineers, as it is known today, was established on 16 March 1802, when President Thomas Jefferson signed the Military Peace Establishment Act , whose aim was to "organize and establish

5110-589: Was known as the zigzag pattern. The National Defense Act of 1916 authorized a reserve corps in the Army, and the Engineer Officers' Reserve Corps and the Engineer Enlisted Reserve Corps became one of the branches. Some of these personnel were called into active service for World War I . From the beginning, many politicians wanted the Corps of Engineers to contribute to both military construction and civil works. Assigned

5183-775: Was merged with the Corps of Engineers on 31 March 1863, at which point the Corps of Engineers also assumed the Lakes Survey District mission for the Great Lakes . In 1841, Congress created the Lake Survey . The survey, based in Detroit, Michigan, was charged with conducting a hydrographical survey of the Northern and Northwestern lakes and preparing and publishing nautical charts and other navigation aids. The Lake Survey published its first charts in 1852. In

5256-653: Was to build fortifications near Boston at Bunker Hill . The Continental Congress recognized the need for engineers trained in military fortifications and asked the government of King Louis XVI of France for assistance. Many of the early engineers in the Continental Army were former French officers. Louis Lebègue Duportail , a lieutenant colonel in the French Royal Corps of Engineers, was secretly sent to North America in March 1777 to serve in George Washington 's Continental Army . In July 1777 he

5329-568: Was undocumented, and it was (in the words of a 1986 report from the Engineer Topographic Laboratories of the United States Army Corps of Engineers ) "an unreasonable determination", with the likes of Cayuga Lake being labelled a "tank". The USACE report assumed that "tank" meant "reservoir", and observed that often the coordinates of "tanks" were outside of their boundaries and were "possibly at

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