Registered Professional Land Surveyors · Serving Texas since 1946(903) 581-2238 · Mon–Fri 8am–5pm
John Cowan & AssociatesLand Surveyors · Est. 1946
John Cowan & Associates total station on a tripod beside a pine-lined East Texas pond in the fall
Registered Professional Land Surveyors · Tyler, Texas

Surveying Texas
since 1946.

Boundary, ALTA/NSPS, topographic and construction surveys for landowners, builders, title companies and public agencies across Texas.

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1946Established in Tyler, Texas
80Years in practice
400+ALTA/NSPS sites statewide
8Survey services
A+BBB rating · accredited since 2009
What we do

Survey services

The same level of service and personal attention, no matter the size of the project.

Construction Staking

Construction staking of improvements shown on improvement plans for control of construction on developments for roads, buildings, pipelines, etc.

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ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys

Surveys made for the purpose of supplying a title company and lender with survey and location data necessary for the issuing of title and/or mortgage insurance.

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Topographic Surveys

A Land Survey locating natural and man made features such as buildings, improvements, fences, elevations, land contours, trees, streams, etc. This type of survey may be required by a government agency, or may be used by Engineers and/or Architects for the design of improvements or developments on a site.

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Residential and Commercial Development Surveys

The subdivision of a tract of land into smaller parcels, showing monumentation and survey data on a map, in conformance with state laws and local ordinances.

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Land Planning

A combination of boundary and topographic surveys for preparation of a site plan to be used for designing improvements or developments.

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Residential Land Surveys and Rural Surveys

Surveying residential and rural tracts of land, showing improvements on plats of survey, and if necessary, providing field notes. A title company and lender may be involved and use the plats and field notes in a real estate transaction.

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Oil and Gas Well Locations

Surveying for the locations of Oil and Gas Wells, Unit Surveys, Unit Declarations, and permitting.

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Pipeline Route Surveys

Surveys of corridors for oil and gas pipelines, flowlines and umbilical cables.

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John Cowan & Associates total station set up under a large oak in an East Texas pasture, with the crew UTV nearby
Since 1946

A seasoned firm that keeps pace with the technology.

Founded by John Cowan in August 1946, we have surveyed everything from Hide-a-Way Lake to a 13.5-mile natural gas pipeline route in Panola County. Today our crews use robotic total stations and GNSS receivers, with CAD drafting in-house.

80years in practice
400+ALTA/NSPS sites statewide

Our history and team →

How it works

From first call to signed plat

  1. Request a quote

    Send the address, parcel number and any deed or prior plat. Takes two minutes online.

  2. Written quote

    A licensed surveyor reviews records and sends a firm price and schedule.

  3. Fieldwork

    Our crew researches the chain of title, then locates and sets monuments on site.

  4. Signed & sealed

    You receive the sealed plat and field notes as PDF, with CAD files on request.

Service area

Every corner of Texas

Headquartered near Tyler since 1946, our crews work statewide, from the Piney Woods to El Paso, the Panhandle to the Rio Grande.

North Texas
  • Dallas
  • Fort Worth
  • Grapevine
  • Plano
  • Frisco
  • McKinney
  • Little Elm
  • Denton
  • Sanger
East Texas
  • Flint Office
  • Tyler
  • Bullard
  • Whitehouse
  • Troup
  • Lindale
  • Jacksonville
  • Longview
Central Texas
  • Waco
  • Austin
  • San Antonio
Gulf Coast
  • Houston
  • Galveston
  • Corpus Christi
West Texas & Panhandle
  • Amarillo
  • Lubbock
  • Abilene
  • Midland
  • Odessa
  • Pecos
  • Alpine
  • Presidio
  • Terlingua
  • El Paso
  • Horizon City
Border
  • Eagle Pass

Not listed? We regularly travel across Texas; just ask.

Interactive service area map, statewide Texas 106°W103°W100°W97°W94°W27°N30°N33°N36°N TEXASSTATEWIDE COVERAGE
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Flint (HQ)

Our office at 10147 CR 135, Flint, just south of Tyler. Headquarters since 1946. Serving Smith, Cherokee, Henderson, Rusk, Van Zandt and Wood counties and beyond.

From the field

Our crews at work

Photos taken by our own field crew.

  • Field crew photo
  • Field crew photo
  • Field crew photo
  • Field crew photo
  • Field crew photo

Field crew photo · John Cowan & Associates
Project map

323 projects, every corner of Texas

A sample of the 2,488 Texas jobs in our own project map, 2001 to 2026, from Terlingua to the Red River. Dots are densest around our Flint office.

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2001–2026 · 323 projects
Map of 323 selected John Cowan & Associates projects across Texas
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323 projects from our job map

Each dot is one project from our job map. Where jobs overlap we show one dot per spot, so dense areas are thinned to stay readable. The diamond marks our Flint office.

County heat map

111 Texas counties and counting

Smith County, home to our Flint office, leads with 1,312 jobs in our project map. Darker blue means more work.

  1. Smith County1,312
  2. Henderson County112
  3. Cherokee County82
  4. Montgomery County82
  5. Harris County59

Explore the county map

  • 0
  • 1
  • 2–4
  • 5–9
  • 10–24
  • 25–99
  • 100+
How a boundary takes shape

Corner to corner

Scroll to walk the line. Each course of a boundary is described by a bearing and a distance, and each corner is marked with a monument.

Illustrative example plat. Not a real property, client or survey; bearings, distances and acreage are computed from a made-up shape for demonstration.

IRF
Iron rod found
IRS
Iron rod set
CM
Concrete monument
NN 05°07′02″ E · 336.34′N 86°08′04″ E · 370.84′S 21°22′14″ E · 246.98′S 41°11′09″ W · 212.60′N 85°06′03″ W · 351.28′IRFIRSIRFIRSCMEXAMPLE TRACT3.53 ACRES (illustrative)ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE · NOT A REAL SURVEY
Heritage

Eight decades on Texas ground

Read our full history →

  1. 1934

    John Cowan begins surveying with the Civilian Conservation Corps

  2. 1946

    Firm founded in Tyler, Texas

  3. 1977

    Terry Cowan joins the firm

  4. 2002

    Philip Cornett licensed; later becomes President & Owner

  5. Today

    Robotic total stations, GNSS and in-house CAD

Need a survey? Get a written quote.

Send the address or parcel number and a licensed surveyor will prepare a written quote.

Get a Quote(903) 581-2238
Get a Quote