1852 U.S. Coast Survey Map of Cedar Key, Florida
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Description: This is an important 1852 U.S. Coast Survey mapping of Cedar Key. Following the Seminole Wars, the government pushed for settlement of Florida and increased harvesting of its many natural resources. Cedar Key, situated on the Florida coast between Tampa and Apalachicola, was identified as a central to this plan for its potential as a shipping port. The U.S. Coast survey sent its top Gulf of Mexico expert F. H. Gerdes to survey the Key in anticipation of constructing a Steam Pier and Railroad. Following the Civil War, Cedar Key did in fact develop considerable a shipping trade as well as a number of mills and other factories, but most of these were destroyed in a series of violent hurricanes in the late 19th century. Published in 1852 under the supervision of A.D. Bache, Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey.
Date: 1852 (dated)
Source: Report of the Superintendant of the United States Coast Survey, Washington, (1852 edition).
References: Rumsey 2470.039. Phillips (America) page 214. Guthorn, P. J., United States Coastal Charts 1783 - 1861, p. 151.
Cartographer: The Office of the Coast Survey, founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Commerce Albert Gallatin, is the oldest scientific organization in the U.S. Federal Government. Jefferson created the "Survey of the Coast," as it was then called, in response to a need for accurate navigational charts of the new nation's coasts and harbors. The first superintendent of the Coast Survey was Swiss immigrant and West Point mathematics professor Ferdinand Hassler. Under the direction of Hassler, from 1816 to 1843, the ideological and scientific foundations for the Coast Survey were established. Hassler, and the Coast Survey under him developed a reputation for uncompromising dedication to the principles of accuracy and excellence. Hassler lead the Coast Survey until his death in 1843, at which time Alexander Dallas Bache, a great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, took the helm. Under the leadership A. D. Bache, the Coast Survey did most of its most important work. During his Superintendence, from 1843 to 1865, Bache was steadfast advocate of American science and navigation and in fact founded the American Academy of Sciences. Bache was succeeded by Benjamin Pierce who ran the Survey from 1867 to 1874. Pierce was in turn succeeded by Carlile Pollock Patterson who was Superintendent from 1874 to 1881. In 1878, under Patterson's superintendence, the U.S. Coast Survey was reorganized as the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (C & GS or USGS) to accommodate topographic as well as nautical surveys. Today the Coast Survey is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA. Click here for a list of rare maps from the U. S. Coast Survey.
Cartographer: Ferdinand H. Gerdes was one of the most active members of the U.S. Coast Survey team. His most important work includes several surveys of New York Harbor as well as detailed surveys of Florida, the Gulf Coast, and up the Mississippi River. Like most of the members of the Coast Survey, Gerdes was strongly pro-Union and worked diligently during the Civil War to provide Union commanders accurate surveying and cartographic materials. Gerdes is known to have commanded the ‘Sachem' and, during the Civil War, was heavily engaged with Union efforts to map and ultimately control, the Mississippi River. Click here for a list of rare maps from Ferdinand H. Gerdes.
Size: Printed area measures 11 x 10 inches (27.94 x 25.4 centimeters)
Condition: Very good. Original fold lines exhibit some wear and toning. Left hand margin extended. Blank on verso.
Code: CedarKey-uscs-1852 (Necessary for phone inquiries: 646-320-8650)
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