Measuring & Mapping - Overview
Where, how far, and how much? People have invented an astonishing array of devices to answer seemingly simple questions like these. Measuring and mapping objects in the Museum's collections include the instruments of the famous—Thomas Jefferson's thermometer and a pocket compass used by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition across the American West. A timing device was part of the pioneering motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge in the late 1800s. Time measurement is represented in clocks from simple sundials to precise chronometers for mapping, surveying, and finding longitude. Everyday objects tell part of the story, too, from tape measures and electrical meters to more than 300 scales to measure food and drink. Maps of many kinds fill out the collections, from railroad surveys to star charts.
"Measuring & Mapping - Overview" showing 30 items.
Page 1 of 3
Gurley Surveyor's Compass
- Description
- This compass was made between 1853 and 1859, and came from Gettysburg College. The "Jas. W. Queen, Philada. Warranted" signature indicates that James W. Queen sold the compass and guaranteed its quality. The style, however, indicates that it was made by W. & L. E. Gurley, the Troy, N. Y., firm that was rapidly becoming the largest producer of complex mathematical instruments in the United States. The Queen Catalogue of 1859 offered several compasses, levels, and transits, with illustrations and descriptions copied from the Gurley Manual of 1855. A compass of this sort, with 6-inch needle, two straight levels, outkeeper, and mounting for use on a Jacob staff, cost $30. A paper label inside the box reads “James W. Queen 264 Chestnut St., near 10th, Philadelphia.”
- Ref: James W. Queen & Co., Illustrated Catalogue of Mathematical, Optical, and Philosophical Instruments and School Apparatus (Philadelphia, 1859), p. 14.
- date made
- 1853-1859
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- 1982.0104.04
- accession number
- 1982.0104
- catalog number
- 1982.0104.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Vara Chain
- Description
- This chain is marked "W. & L. E. GURLEY" and "20 VARA STEEL No. 12." It has 100 links made of No. 12 steel wire, brass handles and tallies, and measures 20 varas overall. The links and rings are brazed shut. Gurley began offering vara chains in 1874, noting that the Spanish or Mexican vara "is in very general use in Texas, Mexico, Cuba, and South America." The vara is roughly equivalent to 33 inches, but was never standardized as were the yard and the meter.
- Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, Manual of the Principal Instrument Used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1874), p. 44.
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- 1994.0280.01
- catalog number
- 1994.0280.01
- accession number
- 1994.0280
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Solar Compass
- Description
- This instrument belonged to the U. S. Geological Survey, a federal agency that was established in 1879. It was made around 1880, and transferred to the Smithsonian in 1920. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to single minutes. The signature reads "W. & L. E. Gurley, Troy, N.Y." The auxiliary telescope, which attaches to either sight vane, is marked "PAT. JULY 9, 1878," and is described by the patent (#205,712) that was granted to William and Lewis E. Gurley in 1878.
- Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, Manual of the Principal Instruments used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N. Y., 1878), p. 70.
- date made
- ca 1880
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- PH*307086
- catalog number
- 307086
- accession number
- 65070
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Surveyor's Compass
- Description
- W. & L. E. Gurley submitted this instrument to the U. S. Patent Office in support of their application for a patent describing an Improvement in Telescope Attachments for Surveyors’ Compasses. The patent (#205,742) was issued on July 9, 1878. The Patent Office transferred this model to the Smithsonian in 1926.
- The basic instrument is a standard small compass with a north-south level on the north arm, and an east-west level and an outkeeper on the south arm. The hand-engraved signature indicates that the compass was made before the middle of 1876. The telescope, which attaches to one of the sight vanes, was presumably made shortly before the patent application was submitted in June 1878. The signature reads "W. & L. E. Gurley" and "Troy, N.Y."
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- PH*308958
- catalog number
- 308958
- accession number
- 89797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Surveyor's Vernier Compass
- Description
- This compass is marked "W. & L. E. Gurley, Troy, N. Y." Gurley described this as a "Pocket Railroad Compass with Telescope." The form, with the folding sights offset so that the telescope is aligned with the north south line, was made between 1887 and 1920. The rim is graduated to 30 minutes, and numbered in quadrants from north and south. The outside of the box has a variation arc that extends ± 35 degrees, and that reads by folded vernier to 5 minutes. New, it cost $58.
- Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, A Manual of the Principal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1904), p. 140.
- William H. Skerritt, Catalog of the Charles E. Smart Collection of Antique Surveying Instruments (Troy, N.Y., 1996), pp. 36-39.
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- PH*312755
- catalog number
- 312755
- accession number
- 165452
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Locke Level (binocular)
- Description
- In 1886 William Gurley obtained a patent (#353,406) for a Locke level with the vial inside the telescope tube. He described it as "a short, compact, cheap, durable, efficient, easily adjustable, and well–incased telescopic leveling–instrument, having a very large and clear field, and requiring but one eye to be used by an engineer or surveyor in quickly taking preliminary or approximate levels with the instrument held by hand." Maria Gurley, William's wife and executrix of his estate, obtained a patent (#360,805) for a binocular version of this instrument in 1887. Here the tube on the right holds the usual lenses of an opera glass, while the tube on the left holds the level vial, prism, and cross wires of the level. The monocular was soon selling for $12, and the binocular for $15, and both remained on the market for about 30 years. This example is marked "W. & L. E. GURLEY TROY N. Y." The Interstate Commerce Commission transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1962.
- Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, A Manual of the Principal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1893), pp. 225–226.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- PH*321741
- catalog number
- 321741
- accession number
- 246883
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Solar Compass
- Description
- W. & L. E. Gurley began advertising solar compasses in 1858, acknowledging that these instruments had "come into general use in the surveys of U.S. public lands, the principal lines of which are required to be run with reference to the true meridian." Gurley went on to state: "The invention, having long since become the property of the public, we have given our attention to the manufacture of these instruments, and are now prepared to furnish them, with important improvements of our own devising, at greatly reduced prices."
- The earliest Gurley solar compasses that have yet come to light are dated 1859, and they differ in a few small ways from the 1858 illustration. Most notably, the tangent screws were moved closer to the arcs. This example, which the University of Georgia purchased shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War, is of that type. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to single minutes. The finish is anodized. The signature reads: "W. & L.E. Gurley, Troy, N.Y." The words "G. A. Raymond Jan. 1860" are scratched on the underside of the plate. George A. Raymond joined Gurley in 1853. He was given responsibility for assembling and adjusting solar compasses in 1858, and was still with the firm in 1889.
- Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, Manual of the Principal Instruments used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N. Y., 1858), pp. 64-93.
- William H. Skerritt, "The Solar Surveying Instruments of the W. & L. E. Gurley Company," Rittenhouse 3 (1988): 15-22.
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- PH*326306
- catalog number
- 326306
- accession number
- 258980
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Surveyor's Vernier Compass
- Description
- This compass is marked "W. & L. E. Gurley Troy, N.Y." Since the signature--with its v-shaped trenches and lines of varying weight--was clearly engraved by hand, the compass was made between 1852 when the Gurleys started out in business, and before the middle of 1876, when their new engraving machine was up and running.
- The variation arc on the south arm extends 20 degrees either way; the vernier is moved by a tangent screw, also on the south arm, and reads to 2 minutes. Two level vials are on the north arm. The side of one vertical sight is graduated to half degrees for determining angles of elevation or depression. In 1871, a compass of this size and design cost $50.
- Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, A Manual of the Principal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1871), pp. 23-27.
- W. Skerritt, "W. & L. E. Gurley's Engraving Machine," Rittenhouse 11 (1997): 97-100.
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- PH*328411
- catalog number
- 328411
- accession number
- 272530
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Wye Level
- Description
- "Of the different varieties of the leveling instrument, that termed the Y Level, has been almost universally preferred by American engineers, on account of the facility of its adjustment and superior accuracy," declared Gurley in 1871. At that time, Gurley offered four different levels, with telescopes of 16, 18, 20, and 22 inches long. Since the "W. & L. E. Gurley, Troy, N.Y." signature on this example was engraved by hand, the level was made between 1852 when Gurley began in business, and 1876, when Gurley's new engraving machine was up and running. New, with tripod, this level cost $110. It belonged to Bowdoin College.
- Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, Manual of the Principal Instruments used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1871), pp. 197–118.
- W. Skerritt, "W. & L. E. Gurley's Engraving Machine," Rittenhouse 11 (1997): 97–100.
- date made
- 1852-1876
- owner
- Bowdoin College
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- PH*329727
- catalog number
- 329727
- accession number
- 278336
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gurley Surveyor's Compass
- Description
- The "W. & L. E. Gurley Troy, N. Y." signature-with its v–shaped trenches and lines of varying weight-was clearly engraved by hand. That means that this example was made between 1852, when the Gurleys began in business, and before the middle of 1876, when their new engraving machine was up and running. A level vial is on each arm, and an outkeeper is on the south arm. The sides of the vertical sights have a series of divisions, by which angles of elevation or depression can be read. The compass belonged to Bowdoin College. New, it cost $35.
- Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, A Manual of the Principal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N. Y., 1871), pp. 14–22.
- W. Skerritt, "W. & L. E. Gurley's Engraving Machine," Rittenhouse 11 (1997): 97–100.
- maker
- W. & L. E. Gurley
- ID Number
- PH*329728
- catalog number
- 329728
- accession number
- 278336
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center