1881 U.S.C.G.S. Nautical Chart of the New England Coast: Boston, Cape Ann, Maine

Meticulous chart of the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Massachusetts.

This is an 1881 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey nautical chart or maritime map of the northern Atlantic coastline of the United States. The map depicts the Atlantic coastline from the Isle au Haut and Penobscot Bay, Maine to Cape Cod and Kingston, Massachusetts and from the coastline into the Atlantic Ocean as far as Cashe's Ledge and Jeffrey's Bank. A highly detailed depiction of the coastline, all of the river mouths islands, and islets are illustrated in detail. Innumerable depth soundings are included all along the coast. Lighthouses have all been shaded yellow. Cities and towns along the coast are labeled, including Bangor, Kennebunkport, and Portland, Maine; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Newburyport, Salem, and Boston, Massachusetts. A table of light houses, with latitude and longitude, character of the light, the time between flashes, the distance at which the light is visible (in nautical miles) and other information included is situated on the upper left. Information about buoys, 'life saving stations', tides, and soundings, and other information important to the mariner is included below the table containing the information about light houses.

This map was published as plate no. 1777 by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in March 1881, Carlile Pollock Patterson, Superintendent.

Cartographers

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...

Carlile Pollock Patterson (August 24, 1816 - August 15, 1881) was the fourth superintendent of the United States Coast Survey. Born in Shieldsboro (now Bay St. Louis), Mississippi and the son of the American naval officer Daniel Todd Patterson (1786 - 1839), Carlile joined the navy as a midshipman in 1830. He graduated from Georgetown College in Kentucky as a civil engineer in 1838 and was attached to the U.S. Coast Survey from 1838 - 1841. In 1841, he was commissioned as a lieutenant. As commander of the Coast Survey schooner Phoenix, Patterson led the first USCS hydrographic expedition of the Gulf of Mexico in 1845. Patterson resigned from the Navy in 1853. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Patterson returned to federal service as a civilian hydrographic inspector in the Coast Survey, in charge of the charting and survey work. He was appointed as the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1874, a post he held until his death.   Further Details...

Condition

Good. Verso repair of centerfold separation. Closed tears professionally repaired on verso. Blank on verso.

References

OCLC 317743279.