First U.S. engineering societyIn 1851, the first engineering society of importance in the U.S. was incorporated. The Boston Society of Civil Engineers was organized at an informal meeting on 26 Apr 1848, and its first regular meeting was held 3 Jul 1848. Its purpose was "promoting science and instruction in the department of civil engineering." In the following year, the national American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects was founded on 5 Nov 1852 in New York City. Earlier attempts in the U.S. to sustain an engineering society were unsuccessful, including those by the engineers of the Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad in 1836; engineers in Baltimore, Md. in 1839; and a society in Albany, N.Y. in 1841.«* |