Introduction

In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed a bill for the "Survey of the Coast," thus establishing the United States Coast Survey. In its early decades, the Coast Survey was responsible for charting the coastlines. But its responsibilities grew with the acquisition of Alaska in 1867 and the 1871 law requiring the Coast Survey to carry geodetic surveys into the interior of the country. Thus in 1878 the U.S. Coast Survey became the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS). In 1965, the Coast and Geodetic Survey became a component of the Environmental Sciences Services Administation (ESSA). And then in 1970, ESSA expanded and was reorganized into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The purpose of this web site is to provide a look into the history of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey through a collection of histories, essays, extracts from previously published documents, presentations, and diaries and personal reminiscences.

• The Coast Survey 1807 - 1867: The story of the Coast Survey from 1807-1867


• Science on the Edge: The story of the Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1897-1970


• The 200th Anniversary of the Coast Survey - a concise history of the nation's oldest scientific agency, now known as NOAA, with particular reference to Coast Survey heritage materials now in the collections of the National Archive. Written by John Cloud, published in the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) publication Prologue, Spring 2007, vol.39, No. 1.


• Coast Surveyors on the Pioneer Coast - the story of a dedicated group of surveyors who charted the Pacific coast beginning in 1849. Written by Capt. Albert E.Theberge Jr, Mains'l Haul, Spring/Summer 2006, vol. 42, Nos. 2 ∓ 3. Posted with permission of the the Maritime Museum of San Diego.


• Smart Germans in the Survey and Washington (pdf file, 14.7MB) - A presentation about the Coast & Geodetic Survey and the prominent roles that German immigrants played in the Survey. (Initially presented by John Cloud, NOAA Library historian, January 25 and 26, 2006, at the Sumner School in Washington, D.C.)

Science on the Edge

You will need Adobe Reader to view this file. A free Adobe Reader is available for download from Adobe.

Introduction (PDF, 37KB )

Chapter One: Henry S. Pritchett and the Great Reorganization of the Coast & Geodetic Survey (PDF, 120KB)

Chapter Two: The More Things Remain the Same, the More Things Change: The Continents and Continuity, Isostasy and Otto Tittmann (PDF, 146KB)

Science on the Edge is the story of the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, its transition into the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) and NOAA, and the American triumph of the Earth Sciences in the 20th century. John Cloud, historian, NOAA Central Library, is writing this history in preparation for the celebration in 2007 of the founding of the Survey of the Coast in 1807.

The history will feature the period from 1897 to 1970. The history begins with the great Re-organization of the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, in which the modern relationship between the officers and personnel of the Survey and the US military services was devised and culminating a few years after 1917 in the system of the Uniformed Officers Corps, which later became ESSA Corps and is now NOAA Corps. Chapters are posted as they become available.