Discover history with NOAA's Heritage Program
NOAA has a long history, dating back to 1807 with the founding of the Survey of the Coast. That means there’s a lot of historic gems laying around the “attic,” such as old scientific equipment, photos, and documents. On Fridays, NOAA’s Heritage staff will post interesting finds as we sift through NOAA's past. Maybe it’s a cool photo that hasn’t been seen in a while, or perhaps it’s a recently discovered item retrieved from a forgotten corner. Enjoy!
Discover NOAA’s Friday Finds below.
Clarence E. Pete Petersen was a chief boatswain in the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and an avid cartoonist. This cartoon he created shows a humorous scene from a 1938 survey of Glacier Bay, Alaska.
The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (NOAA’s predecessor agency) used this style of automatic tide gauge to record water levels until the 1960s.
Visitors to NOAA’s Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, may notice a toy bear perched high on a shelf in the hallway. That small, stuffed bear wearing a gas mask and kerchief tells a story about one of NOAA’s research achievements in air quality.
In 1957, the country celebrated the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) by printing stamps featuring the USC&GS flag and three ships.
Marine chronometers are precise, portable timekeeping instruments used to determine a ship's position at sea. This particular clock was used on U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey ships in the 1940s.
On June 28, 1969, the temperature reached record highs in parts of New York City, and the Stonewall Uprising in defense of LGBTQ+ rights began at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, NYC. These weather logs tell the story.
This beautiful painting of the USC&GS Steamer Oceanographer was painted by Robert Foster, who served aboard the Oceanographer around 1932 to 1936. It came into the hands of his fellow crew member, Lyman M. Rundlett, and was donated to NOAA by Rundlett’s son, James Rundlett.
This record from the late 1960s contains tornado safety announcements from NOAA’s predecessor agency, the Environmental Science Services Agency (ESSA).
In the early 1980s if you found yourself close to a tornado, you might have reached for one of these small tip cards. Before websites and social media were invented, one of these could go right into your wallet, next to your library card, your driver’s license and photos of your family – always there when you needed them.
On the morning of February 28, 1936, “ice crystals of unusual size” were found in Boise, Idaho. According to the March 1936 edition of the Weather Bureau’s Monthly Weather Review, the group was 22 inches across, or almost twice as wide as two standard dinner plates, and included “stars” as large as 4.75 inches in diameter along with smaller triangle-shaped crystals between the “stars.”
The snowy season is upon us, so we’re sharing a few historic photos from our archives of some amazing snowfalls. Make sure to check out the third one and help us solve a mystery!
Until the late 1960s, enlisted members of the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) wore rating badges to denote their rate (or rank) and specialty.
This insignia pin was worn on caps by U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey cooks and stewards from around 1941 to1963.
It’s 1931 and you are a U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officer on the USC&GSS Hydrographer. A bell clangs urgently, waking you from sleep. What could it mean?
This early 20th century naval ceremonial sword belonged to Captain Nicholas H. Heck, an officer of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) and US Naval Reserve Force whose work revolutionized hydrographic surveying.
George Washington Carver is most famous for his expertise in agricultural science and his many inventions, but he was also interested in weather.
In this photo from the NOAA Heritage collection, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz signs the document on behalf of the United States. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Admiral William F. Halsey, and Rear Admiral Forrest Sherman stand behind him.
Calling all extreme ocean buffs and seafarers! The NOAA Heritage Program needs your help. Email us at heritage.program@noaa.gov if you have information on this instrument!
Drift bottles have become poetic symbols of loneliness: A desperate person writes an open letter to the world, closes it up into a bottle, and tosses it into the sea in the hopes of making a connection or being found and rescued from their shipwreck on a distant island.
The Pathfinder was built to meet a specific need. Gold had been discovered in Alaska, causing a demand for safe shipping routes through the Bering Sea.
On September 11, 1942, during World War II, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Muskeget disappeared.
This instrument in NOAA’s heritage collection is a barocyclonometer that may have been used by U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey ships in the Philippines in the early 20th century to detect typhoons.
