1756 U.S. Coast Survey Map of Matagorda Bay and Lavaca Bay, Texas
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Description: This is an uncommon 1857 U.S. Coast Survey Chart or Map of Matagorda Bay and Lavaca Bay in Texas. Essentially three maps in one. The primary map, occupying the left portion of the sheet, details the Entrance to Matagorda Bay Offers excellent detail of Matagorda Island and Matagorda Peninsula, noting the Decros Point Beacon. Another map, it the upper right quadrants shows Lavaca Bay with wonderful detail of Lavaca City or as it is known today Lavaca Port. Lower central map shows both Matagorda and Lavaca bays in relation to one another. Countless depth soundings throughout. Notes on tides, lighthouses, and sailing instruction in the lower left. The Triangulation for this survey was completed by S. A. Gilbert. The topography is the work of S. A. Gilbert and M. Seaton. They hydrography was accomplished by a party under the command of J. C. Febiger.
Date: 1857 (dated)
Source: Report of the Superintendant of the U.S. Coast Survey, (1857 edition).
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 32.5 x 20 inches (82.55 x 50.8 centimeters)
Condition: Very good condition. Minor wear, verso repairs, and toning on original fold lines. Else clean.
Code: MatagordaBay-uscs-1857 (Necessary for phone inquiries: 646-320-8650)
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