1857 U.S.C.S. Map of San Diego Bay, California
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Description: This is the most attractive map of San Diego Bay, California, to emerge from the work of the U.S. Coast Survey. Covers the Sand Diego area from False Bay and the Valley of Las Yeguas southward past Mission Valley and San Diego city to San Diego Bay and the villages of La Punta and the Valley of Ohjia. Offers superb detail both inland and at sea. Inland detail includes topographical features, rivers, roads, and villages. Villages and cities, including San Diego, La Playa, New San Diego, and others, are detailed to the level of individual buildings. Nautical details include innumerable depth sounding, breakwaters, and notes on the Kelp Beds off the coast of Point Lonia. Lower left quadrant features textual sailing instructions as well as notes on the tides and a history of the chart.
This cart was prepared under the supervision of A. D. Bache for inclusion in the 1857 edition of the Report of the Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey. The triangulation for this chart was accomplished by R. D. Cutts, the topography by A. M. Harrison, and the hydrography by a party under the command of James Alden.
Date: 1857 (dated)
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 20.5 x 27 inches (52.07 x 68.58 centimeters)
Condition: Very good condition. Original folds. Minor reparis and discoloration to some of the folds lines and to the lower left margin. Light overall toning.
Code: SanDiegoBay-uscs-1857 (Necessary for phone inquiries: 646-320-8650)
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