The first instrument more similar to a true theodolite was probably built by Joshua Habermel in Germany in 1576, being complemented with the compass and the tripod.
he first altacimutal instruments consisted of a graduated base with a full circle at the extremity and a vertical angle measuring device, usually a semicircle. An alidade on the base is used to view an object for horizontal angle measurement, and a second alidade is mounted on the vertical semicircle. Later instruments had a single alidade in the vertical semicircle and the entire semicircle are mounted so that it is used to directly indicate horizontal angles. Over time, the simple alidade, open-view was replaced with a telescope sighting. This was first done by Jonathan Sisson in 1725.
The theodolite became a modern instrument, accurate in 1787 with the introduction of Jesse Ramsden's famous large theodolite, which he created using a very precise division engine of his own design. The demand could not be met by foreign theodolites due to its lack of precision, therefore, all instruments that meet the requirements of precision were made in England. Despite the many German instrument makers at the turn of the century, there were no usable German theodolites available. A transition was produced by Breithaupt and the symbiosis of Utzschneider, Reichenbach and Fraunhofer. While technology advanced, in the 1840s, the partial vertical circle was replaced by a full circle, and the vertical and horizontal circles were finely graded. This was the transit theodolite. Theodolites were subsequently adapted to a wider variety of assembly elements and uses. In the 1870s, an interesting water-based version of the theodolite was invented by Edward Samuel Ritchie. It was used by the US Navy. to give the first precision studies of US ports in the Atlantic and the Gulf coasts.
The old instruments were too heavy and the reading of their limbs (graduated circles to measure angles in degrees, minutes and seconds) very complicated, long, and fatiguing. They were made of bronze, steel, or other metals.
The Swiss engineer Enrique Wild, in 1920, managed to build in the optical workshops of the house Carl Zeiss (Germany), graduated circles on glass to achieve less weight, size, and greater precision, making the readings easier.
In the early part of the 20th century, Heinrich Wild produced theodolites that became popular with inspectors. His Wild T2, T3, and A1 instruments were made for many years.