Mementos of a Mapmaker

Legendary Cartographer Thomas W. Dibblee, Jr., mapped the geology of more than a quarter of California – over 40,000 square miles! A descendant of José de la Guerra (famous commandant of the Presidio of Santa Barbara), young Dibblee got an early start appreciating the unique geology of our region. While still in high school, he created his first geologic map documenting the family’s enormous San Julian Ranch on the Gaviota Coast.

To celebrate National Earth Science Week at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Librarian Terri Sheridan created a display of items from Dibblee’s papers, which are preserved in the Museum Archives. Library visitors can see various items of significance from Dibblee’s long career – from the booklet he made in the 1930s cataloguing his teenage marble collection to the President’s Volunteer Action Award he received from Ronald Reagan in 1983.

Check out sbnature.org/library to learn more about visiting the Museum Library or Archives.