THE FIRST NORTH CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL MAPS: DENISON OLMSTED AND ELISHA MITCHELL, 1821–1842

Abstract

The first state-sponsored geological maps for North Carolina were produced by Denison Olmsted and Elisha Mitchell and reflect the development of geologic thought, as well as the practical applications to which geology was being applied, at the beginning of the 19th century in the eastern United States. Despite Merrill’s (1964) dismissal of their mapping and descriptions as too general and of a reconnaissance approach, all studies of nature must have a starting point. Prior to the underfunded geological survey of North Carolina, the evaluation and location of natural resources in the eastern United States was spotty and often never reported. Although only the Mitchell (1829a) county-scale geological map of the gold regions of the North Carolina Piedmont garnered widespread dissemination as a result of the publicity surrounding the gold ‘boom’ in the region, the publication of the Olmsted (1825a, 1827) and Mitchell (1828a, 1829b) geological survey reports provided publicly available details and descriptions. Mitchell continued as a behind-the-scenes advocate for geological investigations in North Carolina even after the closing of the North Carolina geological survey in 1827. His travels, investigations, and observations culminated in his 1842 textbook and its accompanying geological map. Although this geological map still continued to use modified Wernerian stratigraphic terminology, the descriptive text on the units and their interrelationships indicated a continuing evolution of thought on the geological history of the state. The 1842 map continued to be used until at least 1877, when W. C. Kerr (1827–1885) and the 3rd North Carolina Geological Survey undertook a more detailed and comprehensive investigation (and mapping) of the geological framework of North Carolina (Holmes 1887). Thus, two men from very different backgrounds (both Yale, AB, 1813) and interests, and mainly self-taught in the geological sciences, provided the first steps in the description and mapping of North Carolina’s natural resources. Compared to the accomplishments of the later geological surveys, their work was limited in scope and detail. But, for North Carolina geology, and that of the southeastern United States, they were the forerunners in the field.