1868 U.S. Coast Survey Chart of Fox Islands, Knox County, Maine

Charting the waters of Mid-Coast Maine.

An 1868 nautical map or chart of the Fox Islands thoroughfare between Vinalhaven and North Haven, Knox County, Maine, produced by the U.S. Coast Survey. In addition to providing a helpful guide for navigators, it demonstrates the increasing standardization and complexity of nautical charts in the second half of the 19th century.

A Closer Look

The thoroughfare is bounded by two large landmasses at top and bottom, the namesake Fox Islands, concurrent with the towns of North Haven and Vinalhaven. Soundings, shoals, rocks, variations, tides, and abbreviations for various features (explained at top-left) are noted throughout, exhibiting tremendous precision. Small red and/or black diamonds with circles underneath indicate buoys. Emphasizing functionality, the Coast Survey has removed topography and other information on landside features, with the exception of coastal rocks and a light station at Brown's Head.

Publication History and Census

This chart was produced by the U.S. Coast Survey in 1868 and was later reissued in 1879 and 1886. It is listed among the holdings of the University of Chicago and the Boston Public Library. This example is in especially good condition for a U.S.C.S. chart of the era.

Cartographer

The Office of the Coast Survey (1807 - present), founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of the Treasury 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, to produce accurate navigational charts of the new nation's coasts and harbors. The first two superintendents defined the spirit of the Coast Survey. The Coast Survey's first superintendent was Swiss immigrant and West Point mathematics professor Ferdinand Hassler. Under Hassler's direction, from 1816 to 1843, the Coast Survey established its ideological and scientific foundations. These included the use of the most advanced techniques and most sophisticated equipment, along with unstinting attention to detail. Hassler devised a labor-intensive triangulation system that divided the entire coast into a series of enormous triangles. These were then subdivided into smaller triangulation units, which were individually surveyed. No one had ever attempted this exacting technique on such a massive scale. As a result, Hassler and the Coast Survey under his leadership earned a reputation for uncompromising dedication to accuracy and excellence. Unfortunately, despite being a masterful surveyor, Hassler was abrasive and politically unpopular, and Congress cut funding for the Coast Survey twice. Nonetheless, Hassler led the Coast Survey until his death in 1843, when Alexander Dallas Bache, Benjamin Franklin's great-grandson, took the helm. Bache was fully dedicated to the principles established by Hassler, but proved more politically astute and successfully lobbied Congress to fund the endeavor generously. Under A. D. Bache's leadership, the Coast Survey completed its most important work. During his long tenure with the Coast Survey, from 1843 to 1865, Bache steadfastly advocated American science and navigation and, in fact, founded the American Academy of Sciences. Benjamin Pierce succeeded Bache and ran the Survey from 1867 to 1874. Pierce was succeeded by Carlile Pollock Patterson, 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 (USCGS) to accommodate both topographic and nautical surveys. Today, the Coast Survey is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the National Geodetic Survey.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Linen backed. Light foxing. Tear at left-center margin.

References

OCLC 914853865.