- Title: Reconnoissance of Pensacola and Perdido Bays
- Author: A. D. Bache
- Date: 1849
- Medium: Engraving
- Condition: Very Good Plus - light age toning, trimmed margins
- Inches: 7 5/8 x 7 [Image]
- Centimeters: 19.37 x 17.78 [Image]
- Product ID: 318092
Sketch G
Showing the Progress in Section No. 7.
U. S. Coast Survey
in the year 1849
Reconnoissance of Pensacola and Perdido Bays
and plan of Triangulation
Scale 1/600,000
Map depicting part of the Florida Gulf Coast, including Perdido and Pensacola Bays.
Surveyor, scientist, and pioneering oceanographer A. D. Bache (1806-1867) served as the 6th Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey. Born in Philadelphia, he came from a prominent political family, and was the great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin. Under his leadership, the Coast Survey’s operations grew significantly, expanding from nine to seventeen states as it surveyed the Gulf and West Coasts. Bache ran meticulous studies relating to ocean currents, tides, and the earth’s magnetic field, endeavors which provided in-depth knowledge about U.S. coastal geography. Thanks to Bache, the Coast Survey evolved into an immense resource for the U.S. government and one of the foremost scientific institutions in the country leading up to the Civil War.