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MAP #: 370U6

CARTOGRAPHER : UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY

DATE: 1870

SHORT TITLE : SKETCH C SHOWING THE PROGRESS OF THE SURVEY IN SECTION III

REMAINING TITLE & ID : FROM 1843 TO 1870 SCALE 1/400,000 1870 (BOTTOM LEFT CORNER). "U.S. COAST SURVEY BENJAMIN PEIRCE SUPERINTENDENT" (ABOVE TITLE). "No. 4" (LEFT TOP MARGIN). SCALE IN STATUTE MILES (CENTER BOTTOM MARGIN). TABLE OF "NOTES" (BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER). THE ENGRAVING EXTENDS BEYOND THE NEAT LINE IN THE LEFT, RIGHT AND TOP MARGINS. THE SKETCH IS WIDER AT THE BOTTOM THAN AT THE TOP (57.2 CM. AT TOP AND 58.2 CM. AT BOTTOM). THE REVERSE SIDE IS BLANK. LONGITUDE WEST FROM GREENWICH (TOP AND BOTTOM BORDERS). LATITUDE (RIGHT AND LEFT BORDERS).

DATE OF PUBLICATION : S1873
PLACE OF PUBLICATION : WASHINGTON
PUBLISHER : U.S. COAST SURVEY
LANGUAGE(S) : EN
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 86.5 X 57.2 CM. (BETWEEN NEAT LINES)
SIZE - OTHER DATA : 91.6 X 65.0 CM. OM
SCALE - (RF) 1: : 400,000
SCALE - OTHER DATA : 40 STATUTE MILES = 15.9 CM.
LIB. OF CONGRESS # : -
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : MSA SC1399-645
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : B014-DL
REGION CATEGORY : MAP ON WHICH THE MD/CHESAPEAKE AREA IS ONE MAIN FOCUS (1)
SPECIAL CATEGORY(IES) : USCS TYPE CHART (4)
: PROGRESS SKETCH (20)
# SHEETS TO MAP : 1
MAP ORIENTATION : N IS AT THE TOP OF THE CHART.
RELIEF SHOWN ? : NO
HYDROGRAPHIC DATA : SHOALS ARE SHOWN IN FEET AND FATHOMS.
: SHOALS ARE SHOWN BY DOTTED LINES AND BY SHADING.
CARTOUCHE : NONE (1)
BORDER : SIMPLE FUNCTIONAL (8)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : GREENWICH (1)
SEE ALSO MAP #s : -
BEST INFO SOURCE : THE 1870 USCS ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS IS THE ONLY SOURCE FOUND.
DESCRIPTION : THIS SKETCH OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND ITS TRIBUTARIES WAS ISSUED TO ILLUSTRATE THE REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY, SHOWING THE PROGRESS OF THE SURVEY DURING THE YEAR 1870. IT SHOWS MAJOR AND SECONDARY TRIANGULATION LINES. IT GIVES THE DATES THAT THE DIFFERENT TRIANGULATION STATIONS WERE ESTABLISHED. IT SHOWS THE AERIAL EXTENT OF THE TOPOGRAPHIC AND HYDROGRAPHIC SHEETS THAT WERE DONE IN MANUSCRIPT BUT NEVER PUBLISHED OR RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC, AND GIVES THEIR NUMBERS AND DATES. SHOALS IN THE CHESAPEAKE ARE SHOWN BY DOTTED LINES. THOSE IN THE ATLANTIC ARE DEPICTED AS SHADED DOTTED AREAS.

IN 1870, PRIMARY TRIANGULATION WORK CONTINUED SOUTH OF WASHINGTON, D.C. AND OBSERVATIONS FOR LATITUDE AND AZIMUTH WERE MADE. THE TRIANGULATION OF JAMES RIVER WAS CONNECTED WITH PRIMARY TRIANGULATION. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE OUTER COAST NORTH OF CAPE CHARLES WAS EXTENDED. THE HYDROGRAPHY OF BROAD WATER ON THE OUTER COAST OF VIRGINIA WAS DONE AND MORE THAN 80 ESTUARIES OF THE CHESAPEAKE WERE TRACED IN OUTLINE AND SOUNDED, INCLUDING THE CHESTER, SAINT MICHAELS, THE CHOPTANK AND THE SASSAFRAS RIVERS. EASTERN BAY WAS SOUNDED AS WERE THE BUSH RIVER AND THE GUNPOWDER. SOME 200 MILES OF SHORELINE WAS TRACED BY THE HYDROGRAPHIC PARTIES. MAGNETIC AND ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS, BEGUN IN JANUARY, 1867 BEARING ON THE SECULAR CHANGE WERE CONTINUED AS WERE TIDAL OBSERVATIONS AT OLD POINT COMFORT.

ADDITIONS WERE MADE TO THE 6 CHARTS OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND TO THAT OF THE PATAPSCO RIVER, THE RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER ENTRANCE AND OF THE JAMES RIVER ENTRANCE TO CITY POINT, VIRGINIA. THE LATTER ITEM WAS COMPLETED AND A NEW EDITION ISSUED. A NEW PLATE WAS ALSO FINISHED ON SHEET 1 OF THE POTOMAC RIVER. WORK CONTINUED ON COAST CHART 28, ISLE OF WIGHT TO CHINCOTEAGUE AND ON COAST CHARTS 31-33 COVERING THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. WORK ALSO PROGRESSED ON THE PLATE OF SHEET NO. 2 OF THE POTOMAC RIVER.

DATA IS FROM THE 1870 USCS ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS AND FROM OBSERVATION OF THE COPY IN THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION.

EDITION & STATE INFO : INFORMAL REPORTS WERE MADE ANNUALLY BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST SURVEY FROM 1816 THROUGH 1850. THESE WERE PUBLISHED BY THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT AND WERE SENT TO CONGRESS. BEGINNING WITH 1851, THESE PROGRESS REPORTS BECAME MORE FORMAL. THEY WERE PRODUCED IN MUCH LARGER QUANTITY AND WERE MORE WIDELY DISTRIBUTED TO SCHOOLS AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS AND INDIVIDUALS IN ADDITION TO CONGRESS. THE U.S. COAST SURVEY BECAME THE PUBLISHER BEGINNING IN 1851. THE WIDER DISSEMINATION WAS AN ATTEMPT BY THE AGENCY TO BUILD A WIDER BASE OF SUPPORT FOR THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COAST SURVEY. BEGINNING IN 1844, THESE REPORTS DESCRIBED IN CONSIDERABLE DETAIL THE PROGRESS OF THE SURVEY INCLUDING IN SECTION III, WHICH PRIMARILY CONSISTED OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND THE OCEAN FRONT OF DELAWARE, MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA. ANNUAL PROGRESS SKETCHES WERE APPENDED, SHOWING THE EXTENT OF THE TRIANGULATION, TOPOGRAPHY, HYDROGRAPHY AND OTHER WORK ACCOMPLISHED UP TO THAT TIME.

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION HAS A GOOD COPY OF THIS SKETCH ON THIN PAPER WITH MINOR PARTING AT THE SEAMS AT THE TOP RIGHT. IT HAS AN ACQ. # OF B014-DL AND A MDHR # OF MSA SC1399-645.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : U.S. COAST SURVEY, REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY, SHOWING THE PROGRESS OF THE SURVEY DURING THE YEAR 1870, H.R. EX. DOC. No. 112, 41st. CONGRESS, 3d. SESSION, WASHINGTON: 1873, 2, 5, 27-28, 55, 63, 65.

March 1, 1992


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