1857 U.S. Coast Survey Map of Florida
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Description: This is a rare 1857 U.S. Coast Survey chart of the Florida coast. Omits the southern top of Florida. An inset in the lower left quadrant details Tortugas Island. There is an interesting swath of inland detail between St. Mary’s and the Cedar Keys – indicating a rather early state of the Florida survey. There are several interesting notations on the eastern coast of Florida regarding bottles being dropped and retrieved – presumably an early technique for measuring currents. Sailing instructions for Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay in the lower left quadrant. Upper right quadrant features a table of latitudes and longitudes for important points along the coast. This map was produced in 1857 under the direction of A. D. Bache, superintendent of the United States Coast Survey.
Date: 1857 (dated)
Source: Report of the Superintendant of the U.S. Coast Survey, (1857 edition).
References: None found.
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.
Size: Printed area measures 16.5 x 18.5 inches (41.91 x 46.99 centimeters)
Condition: Very good condition. Original folds. Minor verso reapirs along original fold lines - especially at fold intersections.
Code: FloridaFVI-uscs-1857 (Necessary for phone inquiries: 646-320-8650)
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