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MAP #: 359U6

CARTOGRAPHER : UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY

DATE: 1859

SHORT TITLE : ST. MARY'S RIVER CORNFIELD HARBOR AND PT. LOOKOUT MARYLAND

REMAINING TITLE & ID : FROM A TRIGONOMETRICAL SURVEY UNDER THE DIRECTION OF A.D. BACHE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE SURVEY OF THE COAST OF THE UNITED STATES TRIANGULATION BY JOHN FARLEY ASSISTANT TOPOGRAPHY BY R.D. CUTTS JOHN SEIB & I HULL ADAMS ASSTS. HYDROGRAPHY BY THE PARTIES UNDER THE COMMAND OF LT. COMDG. S.P. LEE & COMDR. W.T. MUSE U.S.N. ASSTS. SCALE 1/60,000 1859 (TOP RIGHT CORNER). SYMBOL OF THE COAST SURVEY OFFICE, WITH "VERIFIED", SIGNED BY W.R. PALMER, "CAPT. TOPL. ENGRS. ASST. C.S. IN CHARGE OF OFFICE" (BELOW AND TO RIGHT OF TITLE). "NO. 14" (LEFT TOP MARGIN). SCALES IN STATUTE AND NAUTICAL MILES (BOTTOM CENTER). UNTITLED NOTES ON SOUNDINGS AND DATES OF EXECUTION OF THE WORK (BELOW TITLE). TABLES ON "TIDES" AND "ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE BOTTOMS OF THIS MAP" (TOP LEFT). "SAILING DIRECTIONS" ENTERING FROM EASTWARD AND WESTWARD AND A TABLE OF DATA ON "LIGHT HOUSES" (BOTTOM LEFT CORNER). COMPASS ROSE (AT MOUTH OF ST. MARY'S RIVER). THE REVERSE SIDE IS BLANK. LONGITUDE WEST FROM GREENWICH (BOTTOM BORDER). LATITUDE (LEFT BORDER).

DATE OF PUBLICATION : S1859
PLACE OF PUBLICATION : WASHINGTON
PUBLISHER : U.S. COAST SURVEY
LANGUAGE(S) : EN
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 45.9 X 40.2 CM.
SIZE - OTHER DATA : ? X ? CM. OM
SCALE - (RF) 1: : 60,000
SCALE - OTHER DATA : 4 STATUTE MILES = 10.65 CM.
LIB. OF CONGRESS # : -
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : MSA SC1399-500
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : B016-DHD
REGION CATEGORY : DETAILED CHART OF PART OF THE MD/CHESAPEAKE AREA (2)
SPECIAL CATEGORY(IES) : USCS CHART (4)
# SHEETS TO MAP : 1
MAP ORIENTATION : N IS AT THE TOP OF THE MAP
RELIEF SHOWN ? : NO
HYDROGRAPHIC DATA : SOUNDINGS ARE SHOWN IN FEET AND FATHOMS.
: SHOALS ARE SHOWN IN SHADING.
: BOTTOM CONDITIONS ARE INDICATED.
CARTOUCHE : NONE (1)
BORDER : SIMPLE FUNCTIONAL (5)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : GREENWICH/LONDON (1)
SEE ALSO MAP #s : -
BEST INFO SOURCE : THE 1859 USCS ANNUAL REPORT WAS HELPFUL.
DESCRIPTION : THIS U.S. COAST SURVEY PRELIMINARY CHART OF THE ST. MARY'S RIVER GIVES DETAILED SOUNDINGS AND OTHER HYDROGRAPHIC INFORMATION, ALTHOUGH RELATIVELY LITTLE TOPOGRAPHY. THE 1859 USCS ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS INDICATES THAT IT WAS ACCOMPANIED BY SKETCH 14, WHICH IS THE PRELIMINARY CHART OF THIS AREA, DESCRIBED HEREIN. THAT NUMBER CORRESPONDS TO THE ONE IN THE LEFT TOP MARGIN. THE REPORT HAS THIS TO SAY OF THE WORK IN THE AREA: "THE LOWER PART OF THE ST. MARY'S RIVER, MD., WAS SOUNDED OUT IN THE LATTER PART OF THE WORKING SEASON OF 1856-'57 BY THE PARTY OF COMMANDER MUSE, IN ADVANCE OF TRIANGULATION, WHICH WAS NOT TAKEN UP UNTIL THE FOLLOWING SPRING. BEFORE RESUMING THE WORK, WITH A VIEW OF EXTENDING THE SOUNDINGS UPWARD SO AS TO COMPLETE A CHART OF THE RIVER, SOME DISCREPANCIES BEING NOTICED IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE POSITIONS OF SIGNALS USED IN THE TWO OPERATIONS, THE HYDROGRAPHY WAS VERIFIED BY NEW LINES TRAVERSING THE FORMER WORK. SUPPLEMENTARY SOUNDINGS WERE ALSO MADE BELOW THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER, AND IN THE CHANNEL OF THE POTOMAC BETWEEN IT AND POINT LOOKOUT, SO AS TO INCLUDE THE SMALL COVE KNOWN AS CORNFIELD HARBOR." SOME 318 MILES OF SOUNDINGS WERE RUN AND SOME 15,868 SOUNDINGS RECORDED. THE HYDROGRAPHY WAS EXECUTED WITH THE STEAMER HETZEL IN THE LATTER PART OF AUGUST AND EARLY IN SEPTEMBER. IN REGARD TO THE CAPACITY OF THE ST. MARY'S AS A HARBOR, COMMANDER MUSE REPORTED THAT "THE LARGEST VESSELS CAN ENTER THE ST. MARY'S RIVER WITH EASE, AND BE WELL PROTECTED. ITS SHORT DISTANCE FROM CHESAPEAKE BAY WOULD ENABLE VESSELS TO LEAVE IN THE SEVEREST WINTERS, WHILE OTHERS REMAIN BLOCKED IN ICE AT MOST OF OUR LARGE CITIES. AT CONVENIENT DISTANCES THE RIVER IS INDENTED BY BAYS, WHICH ADMIT OF VESSELS REMAINING AT ANCHOR TO LOAD AND UNLOAD WITHOUT INTERFERING WITH THE MAIN CHANNEL."

THE TOPOGRAPHY OF ST. MARY'S RIVER WAS CONTINUED DURING 1859 TO A POINT ABOUT EIGHT MILES ABOVE ITS ENTRANCE INTO THE POTOMAC, AND ST. INIGO'S WAS ALSO INCLUDED TO A DISTANCE OF ABOUT A MILE AND A HALF FROM ITS MOUTH. PROGRESS IN THE FIELD WAS HINDERED BY HEAVY RAINS, FOGS AND WIND GALES.

EDITION & STATE INFO : THE 1859 USCS ANNUAL REPORT NOTES THIS CHART AS A PRELIMINARY SKETCH. THE 1863 REPORT INDICATES THAT THE FINISHED CHART HAD BEEN COMPLETED. WE HAVE NOT SEEN IT NOR DO WE KNOW ITS EXACT

DATE OF PUBLICATION. THE NOAA CHART HISTORY CARD FOR CHART # 557 DOES NOT GIVE A PLATE NUMBER FOR THIS 1859 PRELIMINARY CHART, NOR DOES IT SHOW A FINISHED CHART. THE COPPERPLATE RECORDS OF NOAA APPARENTLY WERE DESTROYED FOR THIS CHART.

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION HAS A GOOD BLACK AND WHITE COPY ON THIN PAPER WITH SOME BROWNING ON THE FOLDS. THE LEFT MARGIN IS TRIMMED WHERE IT WAS APPARENTLY REMOVED FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE U.S. COAST SURVEY FOR 1859, BUT WITH NO LOSS OF DATA. THERE IS A SMALL HOLE AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE FOLDS IN THE CENTER, WITH NO DATA LOSS. IT HAS AN ACQ. # OF B016-DHD AND A MDHR # OF MSA SC1399-500.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : U.S. COAST SURVEY, REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST SURVEY, SHOWING THE PROGRESS OF THE SURVEY DURING THE YEAR 1859, H.R. EX. DOC. NO. 41, 36TH CONGRESS, 1ST SESSION, WASHINGTON: U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1860, 12, 15, 54, 56; MORRISON, RUSSELL & ROBERT HANSEN, CHARTING THE CHESAPEAKE, ANNAPOLIS: MARYLAND STATE ARCHIVES, 1990, 140.

November 7, 1991


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