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1869 U.S. Coast Survey Map of San Francisco Peninusla

SanFranciscoPeninsula2-uscs-1869
$500.00
San Francisco Peninsula. U.S. Coast Survey. Benjamin Peirce, Superintendent. 1869. Price $1.50. Verified J.E. Hilgard. Assist Coast Survey. In Charge of Office. - Main View
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1869 U.S. Coast Survey Map of San Francisco Peninusla

SanFranciscoPeninsula2-uscs-1869

Striking topographical chart of San Francisco Peninsula on heavy stock.

Title


San Francisco Peninsula. U.S. Coast Survey. Benjamin Peirce, Superintendent. 1869. Price $1.50. Verified J.E. Hilgard. Assist Coast Survey. In Charge of Office.
  1869 (dated)     29.5 x 19 in (74.93 x 48.26 cm)     1 : 40000

Description


A fine heavy stock example of the scarce U.S. Coast Survey map of San Francisco Peninsula. The map depicts the immediate city of San Francisco and surrounding areas as far south as San Pedro and Millbrae Station, including the San Francisco - San Jose rail line. This is one of the first Coast Survey charts that we have seen that uses contour lines, other than the 1859 City of San Francisco and Its Vicinity.

This map was first published in 1869 as plate #14 in the Report of the Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey, Showing the Progress of the Survey During the Year 1869.. All examples from the report are on thin tissue paper and exhibit considerable wear and toning on the original fold lines. The present examples is a restrike form the original plate pressed under the auspice U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, an organization that came into existence in 1879. It is on heavy stock and bears the U.S.C & G. S. imprint and code, 3055, in the lower right corner, just outside the original margin. Although the date of this printing is not specified, it is most likely between 1880 and 1890.

Cartographer


The Office of the Coast Survey (later the U.S. Geodetic Survey) (1807 - present), 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. More by this mapmaker...

Condition


Very good. Thick stock. Original pressmark visible. Blank on verso.

References


Rumsey 2648.000.