U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS).

The U.S. Congress created the Coast and Geodetic Survey, initially known as the Coast Survey, early in the nineteenth century to survey the Atlantic coast of the United States and develop accurate charts for navigation and shipping. Legislation in 1807, the Coast Survey Act, first provided for surveying and mapping the nation’s coastline, but Congress failed to allocate adequate funding. As a result, little progress was made. In 1832, Congress authorized reestablishment of the Coast Survey. Lawmakers at the time intended for the Coast Survey to be a temporary agency: Funding would be provided only until the charts needed for safe navigation were completed, and then the Coast Survey would be dissolved. Under the leadership of its early superintendents, however, the Coast Survey expanded its mission to include basic research into hydrography, topography, cartography, meteorology, coastal geology, and a wide range of other topics relating to the physics of the Earth. By the time the Coast Survey completed charts of the Atlantic and, after the acquisition of Western territories, Pacific coastlines, the organization was so thoroughly established as a scientific agency that it became difficult for legislators to argue against continued funding. In 1878, the agency’s name was changed to the Coast and Geodetic Survey.