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.

Two detailed charts covering portions of the coastline in Texas and Florida including:

A. Preliminary Sketch of Galveston Bay Texas (16.6 x 19.6"). The second edition of this handsome coastal chart shows the entire Galveston Bay with the city located at its entrance on Galveston Island. Includes insets of Clopper's Bar and Red Fish Bar. Extensive sailing instructions and the seal of the U.S. Coast Survey complete the chart.

B. Sketch G Showing the Progress of the Survey in Section VII from 1849 to 1852 (23.2 x 11.3"). This chart covers the region from Pensacola to Apalachicola naming Santa Rosa Island, St. George's Island, and St. James Island. Triangulations are shown in Pensacola Bay, St. Joseph's Bay, and St. George's Sound.

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Condition: B

Issued folding with a few tiny chips in blank areas of the charts along the horizontal folds that have been reinforced on verso with old paper.