- Title: Gulf Coast of the United States Key West to Rio Grande
- Author: A. D. Bache
- Date: 1863
- Medium: Hand-colored engraving
- Condition: Very Good Plus - several folds running vertically and horizontally across image
- Inches: 23 1/4 x 28 1/2 [Image]
- Centimeters: 59.06 x 72.39 [Image]
- Product ID: 222037
U.S. Coast Survey A. D. Bache Supt.
Gulf Coast of the United States Key West to Rio Grande
Scale 1/1,200,000
1863
Western Part
Map of the U. S. Gulf Coast stretching from the entrance of the Rio Grande at the border between Texas and Mexico to Key West, Florida. Includes data regarding currents, tides, and geographic coordinates.
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.