Surveyor's Compass

Description:

This compass, with its accompanying Jacob staff, is said to have been used in the Peirce Mill area of what is now Washington, D.C., in the 1790s, and the design seems appropriate for that period. The needle rim is graduated to single minutes and numbered clockwise from north. The face seems to have been copied from that of a nautical compass: it reads clockwise, and is numbered in quadrants from north and south.

Location: Currently not on view

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences, Surveying and Geodesy, Measuring & Mapping

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Francis D. Shoemaker

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: PH.309826.01Accession Number: 109599Catalog Number: 309826.01

Object Name: Surveyors' Compass

Measurements: overall length: 12 in; 30.48 cmneedle: 4 in; 10.16 cmoverall: 6 1/16 in x 12 1/8 in x 4 7/8 in; 15.39875 cm x 30.7975 cm x 12.3825 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a8-88be-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_997207

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