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MAP #: 344U5

CARTOGRAPHER : UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY

DATE: 1844

SHORT TITLE : SKETCH D. ILLUSTRATING THE PROGRESS OF THE SURVEY

REMAINING TITLE & ID : OF THE COAST IN CHESAPEAKE BAY & ITS VICINITY IN 1844. (UPPER LEFT CORNER). SCALE OF STATUTE MILES (BELOW TITLE). "SCALE 1:600,000" (BELOW SCALE OF STATUTE MILES). THERE IS NOTHING ON THE REVERSE SIDE. LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE (NOT SHOWN).

DATE OF PUBLICATION : S1844
PLACE OF PUBLICATION : WASHINGTON
PUBLISHER : U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT
LANGUAGE(S) : EN
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 22.6 X 14.0 CM.
SIZE - OTHER DATA : 26 X 17 CM. OM
SCALE - (RF) 1: : 60,000
SCALE - OTHER DATA : 25 STATUTE MILES = 6.6 CM.
LIB. OF CONGRESS # : -
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : MSA SC1399-469
# 2 : MSA SC1399-638
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : J017-DDT
# 2 : B014-DHD
REGION CATEGORY : DETAILED SKETCH OF PART OF THE MD/CHESAPEAKE AREA (2)
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 : NONE
CARTOUCHE : NONE (1)
BORDER : PLAIN (2)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : NONE
SEE ALSO MAP #s : -
BEST INFO SOURCE : THE USCS ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS FOR 1844 IS THE ONLY SOURCE FOUND.
DESCRIPTION : THIS SKETCH OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AREA WAS ISSUED TO ILLUSTRATE THE REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE U.S. COAST SURVEY SHOWING THE PROGRESS OF THE SURVEY DURING THE YEAR 1844". IT GIVES THE MAJOR AND SECONDARY TRIANGULATION LINES FOR THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND SOME OF ITS RIVERS. SINCE THIS WAS THE FIRST SUCH REPORT, AND SINCE TRIANGULATION WORK HAD ONLY BEGUN IN 1842, THE PROGRESS WAS CONFINED TO THE AREA FROM THE HEAD OF THE BAY TO KENT ISLAND. ONLY THE MAJOR TRIANGULATION AND A FEW SECONDARY LINES WERE INCLUDED. THE RIVERS ALONG THE WESTERN SHORE HAD BEEN STARTED, BUT THOSE ON THE EASTERN SHORE HAD NOT BEEN.

THE NECESSITY FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF A BASE TO VERIFY THE PRIMARY TRIANGULATION OF THE SURVEY LED TO THE SELECTION OF KENT ISLAND AS A BASE. A RECONNAISSANCE OF THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST IN 1843 HAD RESULTED IN DETERMINATION OF BODIE'S ISLAND BEACH, PAMLICO SOUND, AS A BASE FOR EXTENDING THE PRIMARY TRIANGULATION SOUTHWARD. KENT ISLAND WAS SELECTED AS NEARLY MIDWAY BETWEEN THE FIRE ISLAND BASE AND BODIE'S ISLAND. A.D. BACHE AND F.H. GERDES EXAMINED KENT ISLAND AND FOUND A SITE NEARLY MIDWAY ON THE ISLAND IN A NORTH-SOUTH DIRECTION BETWEEN FIVE AND SIX MILES IN LENGTH THAT WAS RELATIVELY UNOBSTRUCTED. H.L. WHITING MADE A PLANE-TABLE SURVEY OF THAT PART OF THE ISLAND AND R.D. CUTTS RAN A LINE OF LEVELS. THE EXTREMITIES OF THE BASE LINE WERE CONNECTED TO THE WESTERN SHORE.

A RECONNAISSANCE WAS BEGUN FOR CONNECTING WASHINGTON WITH THE PRESENT TRIANGULATION FROM LINES NEAR BALTIMORE OR NEAR ANNAPOLIS. THE REPORT ACKNOWLEDGES THE HELP AND WORK OF J.H. ALEXANDER OF BALTIMORE IN A RECONNAISSANCE FOR THE TRIANGULATION OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND.

THE PLANE TABLE SURVEYS DURING THE SEASON ON THE WESTERN SHORE EXTEND FROM SOUTH RIVER BELOW ANNAPOLIS TO THE JUNCTION WITH THE PREVIOUS WORK WHICH CROSSED THE NECK OF LAND BETWEEN THE DELAWARE AND CHESAPEAKE. THE WORK WAS ALSO DONE FROM THE MOUTH OF THE BUSH RIVER NORTHWARD AND FROM THE MOUTH OF THE PATAPSCO RIVER WESTWARD. WORK WAS STARTED NEAR THE HEAD OF THE BAY IN OCTOBER.

THE HYDROGRAPHY OF THE CHESAPEAKE WAS COMMENCED ON THE 1st OF JUNE BY A PARTY DETAILED FOR THE DUTY BY THE NAVY DEPARTMENT UNDER THE COMMAND OF LT. GEORGE M. BACHE, U.S.N. THE WORK BEGAN IN ANNAPOLIS HARBOR AND CONTINUED UP THE SEVERN RIVER INTO ROUND BAY BY AND NORTHWARD FROM THOMAS'S POINT TO A POINT ON KENT ISLAND NORTH OF BLOODY POINT.

THE CHESAPEAKE BAY SKETCH LATER BECAME IDENTIFIED AS "SKETCH B" IN THE 1845 ANNUAL REPORT AND "SKETCH C" IN SUBSEQUENT ANNUALS.

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 CLEAN COPY ON THIN PAPER. THE COLLECTION HAS A DUPLICATE COPY ON HEAVY PAPER WITH WATERSTAINING ACROSS THE BOTTOM HALF OF THE SKETCH. IT HAS AN ACQ. # OF B014-DHD AND A MdHR # OF MSA SC1399-638.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE SURVEY OF THE COAST, SHOWING THE PROGRESS OF THE WORK DURING THE YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER, 1844, SENATE EX. DOC. No. 16, 28th. CONGRESS, 2d. SESSION, WASHINGTON: U.S. SENATE, 1844, 11-14.

March 1, 1993


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