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The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey was established by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807 as the Survey of the Coast. As the American continent was progressively explored, inhabited and enclosed, the bureau took responsibility for survey of the interior. In 1878 it reorganised as the Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS). Since 1970, the National Geodetic Survey has been part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the United States Department of Commerce.
During the nineteenth century, the remit of the Survey was rather loosely drawn and it had no competitors in federally funded scientific research. Various Superintendents developed its work in fields as diverse as astronomy, cartography, meteorology, geodesy, geology, geophysics, hydrography, navigation, oceanography, exploration, pilotage, tides and topography.
From 1836 until the establishment of National Institute of Standards and Technology in 1901, the Survey was responsible for weights and measures throughout the US.
Superintendents of the Survey (after 1919, Directors)
- Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, (1816–1843);
- Alexander Dallas Bache, (1843–1865);
- Benjamin Peirce, (1867–1874);
- Carlile Pollock Patterson, (1874–1881);
- Julius Erasmus Hilgard, (1881–1885);
- Frank Manly Thorn, (1885–1889);
- Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, (1889–1894);
- William Ward Duffield, (1894–1897);
- Henry Smith Pritchett, (1897–1900);
- Otto Hilgard Tittman, (1900–1915);
- Ernest Lester Jones, (1915–1929);
- Raymond Stanton Patton, (1929–1937);
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Superintendents of Weights and Measures
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