Editing Claudius Crozet (section)

===Virginia Board of Public Works===
In 1823, Crozet was elected Principal Engineer and Surveyor for the [[Virginia Board of Public Works]].<ref>Hunter,(1963)</ref> He resigned from his duties at West Point, and brought his wife and two children (a boy and a girl) with him to live in [[Richmond, Virginia]].

Virginia's Board of Public Works was very active in promoting the development of canals, roads, and railroads. His work included approving various proposals and determining their engineering feasibility. At the time, Virginia extended all the way from the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to the [[Ohio River]] and was the largest state east of the [[Mississippi River]]. It included what is now the State of [[West Virginia]]. Crozet worked on hundreds of transportation projects, such as the [[Northwestern Turnpike]].

Typical of his many projects of this nature was the [[Chesterfield Railroad]], the first in Virginia, the plans of which he examined before Board of Public Works funds were approved. It began operations in 1831.

In 1832, Crozet left Virginia to work in [[Louisiana]]. However, he returned to his old job in Virginia in 1837 to work on roads, canals, railroads and other points of necessity for the state. By this time, some railroads were already under construction and the canal system had reached its potential. He left office in 1843 after losing support of canal owners when he correctly forecast the future advantages railroads would hold for Virginia.  Authoring textbooks on highway, railroad and aqueduct design, his 1848 map of the entire state was the first since the one prepared by [[Peter Jefferson]], father of Thomas Jefferson, over a century earlier.