Geological Survey Begins Moving Into New Offices

The move into the U.S. Geological Survey’s new western headquarters in Menlo Park’s Linfield Oaks development has begun.

About half the staff of the San Francisco office is occupying offices on the second floor of the building, and as finishing touches are made to the rest of the building Government geologists from Salt Lake City, Spokane, Portland, Los Angeles and other localities throughout the West will follow.

Eventually, there will be about 120 employees in the building. Some will come from as far away as Washington D.C., where the western region’s affairs have until now been administered with those of the rest of the United States. The change results from a decision to decentralize the survey’s operations.

David Gallagher is the geologist in charge. In order to be close to his work he has moved his family to 385 Waverly Street, Menlo Park, a short walk away.

He said the survey is one of the Government’s oldest agencies, having been started in 1879.

It has often been confused with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, owing to the similarity of titles. But Gallagher said the two surveys are unrelated.

The Geological Survey, he explained, is an agency of the Department of Interior, with rank equal to the Bureau of Mines and the Bureau of Reclamation, among others.

The survey’s primary concern is with research into the problems of water, minerals and other natural resources.

But it is best known perhaps, Gallagher said, for its topographical maps of the country. They are widely used by prospectors and geologists.

Gallagher said Menlo Park was chosen for the survey’s Western headquarters because of its proximity to Stanford University and the University of California, both of which have big geology departments--staffed, Gallagher added, largely by men with survey backgrounds.

Gallagher guessed that the move into the new building will be completed by mid-January.

San Francisco Chronicle
December 20, 1953

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