Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
BURT, William Austin
BURT, William Austin. (Worchester, MA, June 13, 1792--Detroit, MI, Aug. 18, 1858). Burt was the inventor of the solar compass and in 1829 an early form of typewriter. He performed the first public land survey in Dubuque on November 2, 1836.