A Brief History of OWM

The NIST Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) is proud to recognize 190 years of legal metrology standards and services to the U.S. weights and measures community and to promote the international harmonization of equitable standards that facilitate both U.S. economic growth and global trade. In addition to an explicit mention to “fix the standard of weights and measures” in the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8), OWM carries out a wide variety of functions and responsibilities as provided for under Treaties, laws, or Presidential Executive Order. Please see Our Responsibilities and Authorities for more information.

In the 1800s, John Quincy Adams astutely observed that the weights and measures used by customs houses were not uniform, and the need for a ‘fixed’ standard was apparent. Below are excerpts from his 1821 Report upon Weights and Measures:

“Weights and measures may be ranked among the necessaries of life, to every individual of human society. They enter into the economical arrangements and daily concerns of every family. They are necessary to every occupation of human industry; to the distribution and security of every species of property; to every transaction of trade and commerce; ... No legislator can attempt it with any prospect of success, or any regard to justice...”

“Should the fortunate period arrive when.... man will admit of the introduction of one universal standard for the use of all mankind, it is hoped and believed that the [platinum] metre will be that measure. ...it is with a view to uniformity that the preference is given, for the choice of a new standard, to the same metal of which that measure consists which has been the standard of our forefathers from the first settlement of the English colonies, and is exactly coeval with them.”

The first U.S. weights and measures function was established in 1836 by the Coast and Geodetic Survey of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It was originally formed to define the units of measure to be used in the construction of standards and balances provided to the States. 

On June 14, 1836, the 24th U.S. Congress directed the Secretary of the Treasury to construct "a complete set of all the weights and measures adopted as standards, ... for the use of the States respectively, to the end that an uniform standard of weights and measures may be established throughout the United States."  In 1845, the newly established Office of Weights and Measures provided a progress report to the Secretary of the Treasury:

"In July, 1838, the standard weights for the States were reported as completed and ready for distribution. They consisted of ten weights, from fifty pounds to one pound avoirdupois, and of a troy pound. ...The preparation of the large weights for the custom-houses was also continued. The capacity measures for liquids were cast, and twenty made ready for adjustment."

This national-level standardization of weights and measures and distribution across the U.S. states continued to progress over the next few decades.  In 1882, the 47th U.S. Congress directed funds to the Office of Construction of Standard Weights and Measures for continued construction and verification of standard weights and measures, including metric standards, for customs houses, other federal offices, and several states. 

As the need for accurate weights and measures, and other standards, grew, support for a “National Metrology Institute” grew as well. On March 3, 1901, the U.S. Congress transformed the Office of Standard Weights and Measures into the National Bureau of Standards under the U.S. Treasury Department. In 1903, it was renamed the Bureau of Standards and transferred to the new U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor.

In 1905, the Bureau of Standards held the “First Annual Meeting of Sealers of Weights and Measures of the United States” (now the National Council on Weights and Measures (NCWM)), in which state representatives discussed the lack of uniform standards and regulatory oversight for weighing and measuring devices used in commerce and in law enforcement activities. The cooperation between the NIST OWM and NCWM still exists today (learn more here and via our FAQ page.)

Later, in 1934, the Bureau of Standards' name was changed back to the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). In 1988, NBS was renamed the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). While NIST's functions and services have greatly expanded over the past century, OWM remains proud to serve as the original core office in the nation’s standards and physical science laboratory.