diff --git a/R/constructNWISURL.r b/R/constructNWISURL.r
index 028e0541bfb1e0e713a413921b35e91cab5dad61..9a42b27455b6c51b50c38c644fada4bd24992bfe 100644
--- a/R/constructNWISURL.r
+++ b/R/constructNWISURL.r
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ constructNWISURL <- function(siteNumber,parameterCd,startDate,endDate,service,st
           if (nzchar(startDate)) {
             url <- paste(url,"&startDT=",startDate,sep="")
           } else {
-            startorgin <- "1850-01-01"
+            startorgin <- "1851-01-01"
             if ("uv" == service) startorgin <- "1900-01-01"            
             url <- paste(url,"&startDT=",startorgin,sep="")
           }