Yutaka Hamamoto working on a Wild A-7 Stereoplanigraph.
How can I find USGS historical photographs?
The USGS Photographic Library, located at our library in Denver, Colorado, is an archive of still photographs dating from the 1870s and taken by USGS scientists as part of their field studies.
The works of pioneer photographers W.H. Jackson, T.H. O’Sullivan, Carleton Watkins, J.K. Hillers, Thomas Moran, A.J. Russell, E.O. Beaman, and William Bell are represented in the collection. Topics include USGS personnel, earthquakes, volcanoes, geologic hazards and other phenomena, historical mining operations, and earth science photographs.
Use the online USGS Photographic Library to access digital copies of photographs selected from the collection. Since only a portion of the collection’s 400,000 images are online, researchers are welcome to visit in person to view the collection, or our librarians can check the collection for you. For more information, call 303-236-1010.
A limited number of historical photographs are also in our online Multimedia Gallery and on USGS social media platforms like flickr and Instagram.
Related
Does the Geographic Names Information System database contain entries for obsolete names and geographic features that no longer exist?
Yes, the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) includes features that no longer exist and names that are no longer used. If a feature no longer exists on the landscape, or the name has fallen out of use, the entry is marked “historical”. The designation “historical” has no reference to age, size, condition, extent of habitation, type of use, or any other factor. Examples of historical...
Where can I find historical photographs from the Great Surveys of the American West?
A number of images from the "Great Surveys of the American West" can be downloaded through the online USGS Photographic Library. Before the USGS was established by Congress as a part of the Department of Interior, four surveys of the western United States took place between 1867 and 1879. Surveys led by Ferdinand Hayden and John Wesley Powell were sponsored by the Interior Department, and Surveys...
How can I find out-of-print USGS publications?
Out-of-print USGS publications and maps, depending on series and date, can be obtained in various ways: Check the USGS Publications Warehouse for online availability. If the publication is listed but does not have a link to a digital version, contact the Publications Warehouse Team to request a digital copy. Borrow from your local public, academic, or corporate library through a request for...
How can I find publications of the USGS?
The USGS Publications Warehouse is an online catalog for searching all USGS publications and downloading free digital versions. USGS Libraries contain sets of all USGS publications plus many state geological survey publications. The public go in person to any USGS library to do research, but USGS library materials can only be borrowed by placing a request with your local library for Interlibrary...
Why does the USGS use the spelling "gage" instead of "gauge"?
The spelling of “gage” is part of our very rich USGS history. We have used that spelling for over a hundred years. In 1888, USGS Director John Wesley Powell met a very forward-thinking graduate student named Frederick Haynes Newell. Powell was so impressed that he made Newell the first full-time appointee to the new Irrigation Survey, which was created to investigate the potential for dams and...
USGS Cartographer at Work
Yutaka Hamamoto working on a Wild A-7 Stereoplanigraph.
USGS Cartographer at Work
Color separation scribing of the contour plate for a USGS topographic map using a freehand scriber. This handheld stylist was designed to hold a phonograph needle that was sharpened to engrave a .003" scribed line.
Color separation scribing of the contour plate for a USGS topographic map using a freehand scriber. This handheld stylist was designed to hold a phonograph needle that was sharpened to engrave a .003" scribed line.
USGS Topographic Field Party
A mounted topographic field party poses while working on the Dos Cabezas quadrangle in Arizona. 1940-1941. The quadrangle was surveyed by D.H. Rutledge, W.E. Burton, and G.K. Jensen, so it is likely that most or all of them are in this photo.
A mounted topographic field party poses while working on the Dos Cabezas quadrangle in Arizona. 1940-1941. The quadrangle was surveyed by D.H. Rutledge, W.E. Burton, and G.K. Jensen, so it is likely that most or all of them are in this photo.
USGS Topographer at Work
Topographer George Stanley Druhot running a level line on oil-shale cliffs north of the Colorado River. The level line was one mile long and climbed 2,000 feet over talus slopes.
Topographer George Stanley Druhot running a level line on oil-shale cliffs north of the Colorado River. The level line was one mile long and climbed 2,000 feet over talus slopes.
USGS Topographer at Work
R.R. Monbeck on the rim of Haleakala volcano on the island of Maui
R.R. Monbeck on the rim of Haleakala volcano on the island of Maui
USGS personnel at the Embudo Station, New Mexico
USGS prersonnel at the Embudo Station, New Mexico. Embudo was selected as the site of the first USGS streamgaging station in 1889 because of the need for systematic water resource assessments of western states as it not only offered a favorable climate and easy rail access, but qualified for congressional funding tapped specifically for the “arid West.”
USGS prersonnel at the Embudo Station, New Mexico. Embudo was selected as the site of the first USGS streamgaging station in 1889 because of the need for systematic water resource assessments of western states as it not only offered a favorable climate and easy rail access, but qualified for congressional funding tapped specifically for the “arid West.”
USGS Topographers at Work
Captain Straughan (right) and rod man Bud Sullivan (left) departing for a day in the field. Straughan has a tripod on his shoulder and a plane table packed in the satchel under his leg. The flagpole in the background is flying a United States flag and a USGS flag - a common practice in mapping field camps.
Captain Straughan (right) and rod man Bud Sullivan (left) departing for a day in the field. Straughan has a tripod on his shoulder and a plane table packed in the satchel under his leg. The flagpole in the background is flying a United States flag and a USGS flag - a common practice in mapping field camps.
Related
Does the Geographic Names Information System database contain entries for obsolete names and geographic features that no longer exist?
Yes, the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) includes features that no longer exist and names that are no longer used. If a feature no longer exists on the landscape, or the name has fallen out of use, the entry is marked “historical”. The designation “historical” has no reference to age, size, condition, extent of habitation, type of use, or any other factor. Examples of historical...
Where can I find historical photographs from the Great Surveys of the American West?
A number of images from the "Great Surveys of the American West" can be downloaded through the online USGS Photographic Library. Before the USGS was established by Congress as a part of the Department of Interior, four surveys of the western United States took place between 1867 and 1879. Surveys led by Ferdinand Hayden and John Wesley Powell were sponsored by the Interior Department, and Surveys...
How can I find out-of-print USGS publications?
Out-of-print USGS publications and maps, depending on series and date, can be obtained in various ways: Check the USGS Publications Warehouse for online availability. If the publication is listed but does not have a link to a digital version, contact the Publications Warehouse Team to request a digital copy. Borrow from your local public, academic, or corporate library through a request for...
How can I find publications of the USGS?
The USGS Publications Warehouse is an online catalog for searching all USGS publications and downloading free digital versions. USGS Libraries contain sets of all USGS publications plus many state geological survey publications. The public go in person to any USGS library to do research, but USGS library materials can only be borrowed by placing a request with your local library for Interlibrary...
Why does the USGS use the spelling "gage" instead of "gauge"?
The spelling of “gage” is part of our very rich USGS history. We have used that spelling for over a hundred years. In 1888, USGS Director John Wesley Powell met a very forward-thinking graduate student named Frederick Haynes Newell. Powell was so impressed that he made Newell the first full-time appointee to the new Irrigation Survey, which was created to investigate the potential for dams and...
USGS Cartographer at Work
Yutaka Hamamoto working on a Wild A-7 Stereoplanigraph.
Yutaka Hamamoto working on a Wild A-7 Stereoplanigraph.
USGS Cartographer at Work
Color separation scribing of the contour plate for a USGS topographic map using a freehand scriber. This handheld stylist was designed to hold a phonograph needle that was sharpened to engrave a .003" scribed line.
Color separation scribing of the contour plate for a USGS topographic map using a freehand scriber. This handheld stylist was designed to hold a phonograph needle that was sharpened to engrave a .003" scribed line.
USGS Topographic Field Party
A mounted topographic field party poses while working on the Dos Cabezas quadrangle in Arizona. 1940-1941. The quadrangle was surveyed by D.H. Rutledge, W.E. Burton, and G.K. Jensen, so it is likely that most or all of them are in this photo.
A mounted topographic field party poses while working on the Dos Cabezas quadrangle in Arizona. 1940-1941. The quadrangle was surveyed by D.H. Rutledge, W.E. Burton, and G.K. Jensen, so it is likely that most or all of them are in this photo.
USGS Topographer at Work
Topographer George Stanley Druhot running a level line on oil-shale cliffs north of the Colorado River. The level line was one mile long and climbed 2,000 feet over talus slopes.
Topographer George Stanley Druhot running a level line on oil-shale cliffs north of the Colorado River. The level line was one mile long and climbed 2,000 feet over talus slopes.
USGS Topographer at Work
R.R. Monbeck on the rim of Haleakala volcano on the island of Maui
R.R. Monbeck on the rim of Haleakala volcano on the island of Maui
USGS personnel at the Embudo Station, New Mexico
USGS prersonnel at the Embudo Station, New Mexico. Embudo was selected as the site of the first USGS streamgaging station in 1889 because of the need for systematic water resource assessments of western states as it not only offered a favorable climate and easy rail access, but qualified for congressional funding tapped specifically for the “arid West.”
USGS prersonnel at the Embudo Station, New Mexico. Embudo was selected as the site of the first USGS streamgaging station in 1889 because of the need for systematic water resource assessments of western states as it not only offered a favorable climate and easy rail access, but qualified for congressional funding tapped specifically for the “arid West.”
USGS Topographers at Work
Captain Straughan (right) and rod man Bud Sullivan (left) departing for a day in the field. Straughan has a tripod on his shoulder and a plane table packed in the satchel under his leg. The flagpole in the background is flying a United States flag and a USGS flag - a common practice in mapping field camps.
Captain Straughan (right) and rod man Bud Sullivan (left) departing for a day in the field. Straughan has a tripod on his shoulder and a plane table packed in the satchel under his leg. The flagpole in the background is flying a United States flag and a USGS flag - a common practice in mapping field camps.
Updated Date: February 3, 2022