1846 U.S.C.S. Chart of Harbor of New Haven, Connecticut (Separate Issue)

Navigating New Haven's Tricky Harbor.

This is a rare, separately issued example of the 1846 U.S. Coast Survey nautical chart or map of the harbor of New Haven, Connecticut, printed on thicker paper than the charts appearing in the Coast Survey's Annual Report.

A Closer Look

This map covers New Haven Harbor from the town of New Haven south as far as Oyster River Point and Morgan's Point. In addition to maritime navigation information such as soundings, bottoms, shoals, and hazards, it also provides inland detail with the town grid outlined and many individual buildings, streets, waterways, and property lines indicated. In the harbor itself, there are countless depth soundings as well as notes on reefs and shoals. Detailed sailing instructions appear at right, in which the New Haven Light (Lighthouse) plays an important role. A year after this chart was published, the old wooden lighthouse was replaced with the Five Mile Point Lighthouse, which still stands today.

Historical Context

At the time this chart was prepared, New Haven was transitioning from a seafaring town into a bustling, early industrial powerhouse. While the harbor's notorious shallows restricted large trans-Atlantic vessels, the Long Wharf and steamboat wharf seen here could accommodate steamships. Moreover, a thriving fleet of small sloops and multi-masted schooners maintained robust coastal and West Indian trade routes, exchanging local timber, livestock, and early manufactured goods for bulk commodities like coal and cotton. The Fairhaven neighborhood at the mouth of the Quinnipiac River also became a regional hub for the oyster industry. The city and the harbor were also boosted by the arrival of the railroad (the Hartford and New Haven Railroad, built in 1838), seen here at the top.

Publication History and Census

This chart was prepared by a team of hydrological surveyors under the command of George Smith Blake, who later served as the Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, and was engraved by Sherman and Smith in New York. It is based on an 1838 chart first presented to Congress with the report 'Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, Transmitting A Map of New Haven and its harbor, in the State of Connecticut. February 18, 1839,' which was one of the first Coast Survey charts ever published. The assistants on the present iteration included Edmund Blunt (Jr.), son of the well-known publisher of the American Coast Pilot, Edmund March Blunt (1770 - 1862), who worked closely with the Coast Survey in its formative years.

The present example of the map is a separate issue, printed on thicker paper than the visually similar charts included in the Coast Survey's Annual Report (see Rumsey 2470.013 for comparison). The present example is a different state than other separate issue editions we have seen, which are marked as 'electrotype copy…' in the top-right margin. Since catalog listings generally do not provide identifying information to locate separately-issued examples, a true census is difficult to establish, but we do note examples matching this one at the University of Georgia (as part of the collection '[Unnumbered nautical charts of harbors along the northeast coast of the United States]') and the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

Cartographers

George Smith Blake (1802 - June 24, 1871) was a naval officer and prominent hydrographic surveyor of the mid-19th century, in the service of the U.S. Coast Survey. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and entered the U.S Navy in 1818. He reached the rank of lieutenant in 1827, mostly serving in the West Indies, battling pirates among other tasks. In 1831, he was assigned to survey work with the U.S. Coast Survey, where he would spend most of the next seventeen years. Alongside Thomas R. Gedney, Blake was one of the first two senior naval officers attached to the Coast Survey and reached the rank of Commodore by the end of his career. From 1835, he commanded hydrographic parties that produced fundamental nautical charts and soundings for the East Coast, including surveys of New Bedford Harbor, Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, and Delaware Bay. In 1849, he was assigned to command the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean squadron and over the next decade served in various roles for the Navy. From 1857 to 1865, he was the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, including during the difficult years of the U.S. Civil War. Among his accomplishments was the prudent evacuation of the U.S.S. Constitution in the opening days of the conflict to prevent it from falling to the hands of Confederate sympathizers, which were numerous in and around Annapolis. For the same reason, the academy itself relocated to Newport, Rhode Island for the duration of the conflict. After the war, Blake worked as a lighthouse inspector and wrote biographies of naval officers for the New American Encyclopedia (Blake had been a member of the American Antiquarian Society since 1859). Soon after his death, a state-of-the-art surveying steamer, considered the most innovative hydrographic vessel of the 19th Century, was named in his honor and remained in service until 1905. Blake's family had strong connections with the Navy - his brother was a naval surgeon and his nephew was part of the crew of the celebrated U.S.S. Brooklyn, which played a critical role at the Battle of Mobile Bay in the Civil War. Blake married Mary Ann Allen Barron, a daughter of Commodore James Barron, in 1829 and their son, Francis Barron Blake, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1857 and served in the Civil War, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Frank Blake, Jr. (perhaps George Blake's son, but more likely his brother or newphew, the name Francis being common in the family), published a short biography of him in 1871, soon after his death, titled Memoir of George Smith Blake (Cambridge, MA: University Press: Welch, Bigelow, and Co.).   Further Details...

The Office of the Coast 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 spirit of the Coast Survey was defined by its first two superintendents. 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. These included using the most advanced techniques and most sophisticated equipment as well as an unstinting attention to detail. Hassler devised a labor intensive triangulation system whereby the entire coast was divided into a series of enormous triangles. These were in turn subdivided into smaller triangulation units that were then individually surveyed. Employing this exacting technique on such a massive scale had never before been attempted. Consequently, Hassler and the Coast Survey under him developed a reputation for uncompromising dedication to the principles of accuracy and excellence. Unfortunately, despite being a masterful surveyor, Hassler was abrasive and politically unpopular, twice losing congressional funding for the Coast Survey. Nonetheless, Hassler led the Coast Survey until his death in 1843, at which time Alexander Dallas Bache, a great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, took the helm. Bache was fully dedicated to the principles established by Hassler, but proved more politically astute and successfully lobbied Congress to liberally fund the endeavor. Under the leadership of A. D. Bache, the Coast Survey completed its most important work. Moreover, during his long tenure with the Coast Survey, from 1843 to 1865, Bache was a 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) to accommodate topographic as well as nautical surveys. Today the Coast Survey is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA as the National Geodetic Survey.   Further Details...

Alexander Dallas Bache (July 19, 1806 - February 17, 1867) was an American physicist, scientist and surveyor. Bache is best known in cartographic circles as the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey from 1843 to 1865. Born in Philadelphia, Bache, a great grandson of the statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin, had a varied career primarily focused on education. He toured Europe on behalf of Girard College and composed an important treatise on European Education. Later he served as president of Philadelphia's Central High School and was a professor of natural history and chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. On the death of Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, Bache was appointed Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey. Picking up where Hassler left off Bache presided over the Survey during its most prolific period and oversaw the mapping of most of the United States coastline. To this day his name appears on countless marine pilot books and U.S. Coast Survey nautical charts. For his work he was elected Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. Following the Civil War, Bache was elected a 3rd Class Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He died at Newport, Rhode Island and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC, where he is commemorated with a monument built by American architect Henry Hobson Richardson.   Further Details...

Sherman and Smith (fl. c. 1829 - 1855), sometimes working as Stiles, Sherman & Smith, were American engravers active in New York City during the middle part of the 19th century. The firm including John Calvin Smith (surveyor and engraver), George E. Sherman, and sometimes, Samuel Stiles. Their work primarily focused on government publications, including the maps and engravings prepared to illustrate the official records of the 1838-42 United States Exploring Expedition (U.S. Ex. Ex.), maps issued for the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, and various U.S. Coast Survey Charts. They also engraved privately for Thomas Bradford and John Disturnell, among others. Sherman and Smith maintained offices at the corner of Broadway and Liberty Street in New York City and were highly regarded as the finest cartographic engravers in the city. Their non-cartographic legacies include George Inness, who apprenticed with them for two years before going on to become a well regarding American landscape painter of the Hudson River School.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Even overall toning. Light edge wear.

References

OCLC 1393979220. University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee American Geographical Society Library - Maps 820-c .N4H3 A-1846.