The oldest scientific agency in the U.S., the Coast Survey, was established in 1807 when President Thomas Jefferson and Congress authorized a “survey to be taken of coasts of the United States". The history of hydrography is nearly as old as sailing, but in the United States it officially began on February 10, 1807, with the mandate from Congress and President Thomas Jefferson to survey and chart the nation’s coasts. The first Superintendent of the Coast Survey was Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, who brought together mathematicians, cartographers, geodesists, meterologists, hydrographers, topographers, sailors, laborers and administrators with the goal of surveying and charting the coast of the United States.

The first official hydrographic survey in the U.S. was conducted along the south shore of Long Island in 1834. In 1839, the U.S. government produced its first nautical chart. Early hydrographic surveys consisted of depths measured by sounding pole and hand lead line with positions determined by three-point sextant fixes to mapped reference points. Lead lines were ropes, or lines, with depth-markings and lead-weights attached that were lowered and read manually. Lead lines and sounding poles were a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. While the initial depth soundings may have been accurate, they were limited in number, and thus, coverage between single soundings was lacking. In 1904, weighted wire-drag surveys were introduced into hydrography. The basic principle being to drag a wire attached to two vessels. If the wire (set at a certain depth by a system of weights and buoys) encountered an obstruction it would become taut and form a "V" revealing the depth and position of submerged rocks and other obstructions.

The 1930’s saw the development and implementation of single-beam echo sounders using sound to measure the distance of the sea floor directly below a vessel. By running a series of lines at a specified spacing, single beam echo sounders and fathometers greatly increased the speed of the survey process by allowing more data points to be collected. However, this method still yielded gaps in quantitative depth information between survey lines. In the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's a number of evolutionary concepts were advanced that fundamentally changed how we look at and map the seafloor. Side Scan Sonar technology was developed as a qualitative means of obtaining the sonar equivalent of an aerial photograph and improving the ability to identify submerged wrecks and obstructions. Multibeam swath systems made it possible to obtain quantitative depth information for 100% of the bottom in a survey area. Hydrographic surveying techniques and procedures continue to evolve and The Office of Coast Survey continues to perform research and evaluation of emerging technologies.

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