The Office of Coast Survey is the oldest U.S. scientific organization, dating from 1807 when Congress directed that a "survey of the coast" be carried out. By 1836, it was called the U.S. Coast Survey and in 1878, the name was changed to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Today the Office of Coast Survey is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA.

The survey teams, composed of civilians as well as Army and Naval officers, charted the nation's waterways and produced a wide array of reports, survey charts, hydrographic studies of tides and currents, astronomical studies and observations, and coastal pilots. These charts are an important record of the changing nature of the nation's coastlines. In additional to coastal charts, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey produced land sketches, Civil War battle maps, and the early aeronautical charts.

This detailed chart shows Hempstead Harbor located in Nassau County in between Port Washington and Glen Cove, and opens onto Long Island Sound. In addition to soundings, bottom types, and rocks, there is excellent detail down to individual farms and fields. Information about the tides can be found in the bottom left corner.

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Condition: B

Issued folding with a binding trim that extends to the neatline at bottom left and light toning that is especially apparent along the folds and the sheet's top edge. There are a few short fold separations that have been closed on verso with archival tape.