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 lot includes two sheets showing the course of the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg to Port Royal, which is approximately 20 miles to the southeast. The charts show the street-grid pattern of both towns, early roads, individual buildings, plantations, and topography. The river is filled with soundings, shoals, and bottom types.

A. Rappahannock River Virginia from Fredericksburg to Near Moss Neck…
B. Rappahannock River Virginia from Moss Neck To Port Royal…

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Condition: B

Issued folding and now flattened and backed with tissue to reinforce and repair some small fold separations. There is toning along the folds, scattered foxing on the first sheet, and tiny loss at the fold junctions.