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The United States Office of the Coast Survey began in 1807, when Thomas Jefferson founded the Survey of the Coast. However, the fledgling office was plagued by the War of 1812 and disagreements over whether it should be civilian or military controlled. The entity was re-founded in 1832 with Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler as its superintendent. Although a civilian agency, many military officers served the office; army officers tended to perform the topographic surveys, while naval officers conducted the hydrographic work.

The Survey’s history was greatly affected by larger events in American history. During the Civil War, while the agency was led by Alexander Dallas Bache (Benjamin Franklin’s grandson), the Survey provided the Union army with charts. Survey personnel accompanied blockading squadrons in the field, making new charts in the process.

After the Civil War, as the country was settled, the Coast Survey sent parties to make new maps, employing scientists and naturalists like John Muir and Louis Agassiz in the process. By 1926, the Survey expanded their purview further to include aeronautical charts. During the Great Depression, the Coast Survey employed over 10,000 people and in the Second World War the office oversaw the production of 100 million maps for the Allies. Since 1970, the Coastal and Geodetic Survey has formed part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and it is still producing navigational products and services today.

Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
20 x 17.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
104456
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
13.5 x 17 inches
Condition:
Stock#:
104767
Place/Date:
Washington / 1853
Size:
18 x 26 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
88422
Place/Date:
Washington / 1853
Size:
13.5 x 9.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
103254
Place/Date:
Washington D.C. / 1857
Size:
20 x 27 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
104347
Place/Date:
Washington / 1859
Size:
16 x 12 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
95988
Place/Date:
Washington / 1863
Size:
27 x 23.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
47081
Place/Date:
Washington / 1863
Size:
27 x 23.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
75869
Place/Date:
Washington, D.C. / 1890
Size:
27 x 24 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
42772

Archived

Place/Date:
Washington / 1847
Size:
14 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
25393
Place/Date:
Washington / 1848
Size:
37.5 x 25 inches each
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
35886mb
Place/Date:
Washington / 1851
Size:
27 x 17 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
29594
Place/Date:
Washington / 1851
Size:
13.5 x 16.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
33233
Place/Date:
Washington / 1851
Size:
27 x 17 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
33247
Place/Date:
Washington / 1851
Size:
27 x 17 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
44437
Place/Date:
Washington / 1851
Size:
16.5 x 14.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
55121
Place/Date:
Washington / 1851
Size:
27 x 17 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
72621
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
16.5 x 14.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
0673
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
11 x 9 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
0681
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
12 x 9 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
11243
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
15.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
11245
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
13 x 11.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
11246
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
15.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
11255
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
16.5 x 14.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
11259
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
28 x 20 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
13318
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
13 x 11.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
13324
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
12 x 9 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
13527
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
13 x 11.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
13537
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
28 x 20 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
13547
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
15.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
6304
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
16 x 12.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
7486
Place/Date:
Washington / 1852
Size:
13 x 11.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
9379