National Geodetic Survey
On February 10, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation to establish the United States Survey of the Coast, which became the US Coast and Geodetic Survey and later the National Geodetic Survey.
Well before 1807, other nations had done their own coastal and geodetic surveys. Geodesy is the science of measuring the Earth’s shape, orientation in space, and gravitational field. Swiss-born Ferdinand R. Hassler immigrated to the US in 1805 and proposed the creation of a government agency to explore this field of science.
President Jefferson agreed with Hassler and signed an act into law on February 10, 1807, calling for a “Survey of the Coast.” This was America’s first scientific agency. Jefferson hoped it would aid international trade by charting US waters and making them safe for navigation. Hassler, with expertise in surveying and the standardization of weights and measures, was selected to lead the survey.
However, after Hessler submitted his plan for the survey just a month later, the Embargo Act of 1807 essentially halted all US overseas trade. The project was put on hold until 1811 when President James Madison authorized Hassler to travel to Europe to purchase the instruments needed for the survey. While Hassler was in England, the War of 1812 broke out and he was forced to stay there until it ended in 1815.
Nearly a decade after it was created, the survey finally began operations in 1816. Hassler began his work near New York City, measuring the first baseline and verifying it the following year. However, by 1818, Congress was unimpressed with the progress that had been made in the first decade of the agency and was unconvinced it was worth the cost. They fired Hassler and placed US Army and Navy officers in charge of the task. No surveys were conducted for the next 14 years.
In 1832, Congress reverted to the original law and placed the responsibility of coastal surveying back to the Survey of the Coast and authorized the hiring of civilians once again. Hassler resumed his work in 1833. In 1836, the agency was renamed the US Coast Survey. Around this time they also worked in coordination with the Navy – a new law required that survey ships be commanded and crewed by US Navy officers and men when they could provide that support.
Over the years, the agency produced nautical charts, performed the first systematic study of the Gulf Stream, created tidal prediction machines, and established a geodetic connection between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. In the 1850s, artist James McNeill Whistler worked briefly as a draughtsman for the agency. The outbreak of war would slow the work of the agency, as the US Navy and Army personnel were called away. But in peacetime, they resumed their work together. After the US acquired Alaska in 1867, the survey had even more coast to explore.
In the 1870s the agency’s responsibilities were increased to include geodetic surveys of in the country’s interior. Between 1874 and 1877, naturalist and author John Muir served as a guide and artist for the survey of the 39th Parallel. It was also during this period that the name was changed to the US Coast and Geodetic Survey.
From 1900 to 1917, the Navy was removed from the survey and it was operated entirely by civilians. Then with the US entrance into World War I, the US established the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corp, which gave the survey’s officers a commissioned status to protect them from being treated as spies if they were captured. After the war, they returned to land surveying, seafloor charting, mapping coastlines, geophysics, and oceanography. In 1926, the survey entered a new age with the passage of the Air Commerce Act, which directed them to chart US airways for the first time. During the Depression, the survey established surveying parties and field offices that provided jobs for more than 10,000 people, including many out-of-work engineers.
During World War II, over 1,000 members of the survey joined the war effort as hydrographers, artillery surveyors, cartographers, army engineers, intelligence officers, and geophysicists. In 1959, the survey’s charter was expanded to explore oceans worldwide. In 1970, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was established. The survey was merged with other agencies and became the National Geodetic Survey and the Office of Coast Survey. The Dictionary of American History stated that “the Survey is considered to have been one of the major birthplaces of modern American science, including many disciplines not generally associated with geodesy and hydrology. Its creation is a cornerstone of the rapid growth of science and technology and of the development of natural resources for commercial use in the United States.”
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I wonder who are the authors of these great articles. The subject matter covered is so varied, from history to science and what not. Thanks to Mystic for giving me the great stories on stamps.
It is great to see an article about the field of work I was in for 43 years. First in the U. S. Air Force as a Draughtsman (Draftsman), then a Geodetic Surveyor and then as a civilian as a Geodesist working for the National Geospatial-Intellagence Agency. I can relate to the tale of Ferdinand R. Hassler, though not as awful as his story. We would get a request for survey work and then after showing up be turned away for some reason. Frustrating. And, trying to explain to someone what it is that we do and why, we would get the “deer in the headlights” stare. Now there are many more things Surveyors (Geometers) do using Theodolites, Electronic Astrolabes, Gravimeters and GPS equipment for point to point positioning. A wonderous career.
Thank you for your service. I loved where, disatisfied with the progress, they fired Hassler and the military took over. Nothing was done for 14 yrs.
I am an 84 year old man who received my first Stamp Album at age 12, in 1951, given to me by my grndfather. Today I have over 6 albums plus many, many duplicate stamps fom all over the world. My stamp collecion has taught me American History, world history and I have traveled extensively to dfferent places of the world. I still am active in my stamp collection as it is always a source of learning new facts of the world we live in. From my travels I have indavertantly collected coins and currencey having a collateral coin collection from many countries of the world. I have always found collecting stamps and coins to be a life long enjoyment and a pleasure. My inteest is as strong as when I ws twelve yeas old.