Records of the Weather Bureau
Records Available at the National Archives at Fort Worth
As early as 1814, Army regulations required military posts to keep a diary of the weather. In 1847, the Smithsonian Institution instituted a system of voluntary weather observation around the country. In 1870, the meteorological service of the Signal Corps was established and its functions became progressively more extensive. The Signal Corps’ meteorological services functioned until October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653) when Congress established the Weather Bureau in the Department of Agriculture.