Stop 1

As you enter the main lobby of Building 3, our Visitor Center is on your right. The center is the ideal place to get acquainted with the world of natural science. The Visitor Center has permanent displays exploring the interrelations among the land, water, air, and life. Enjoy the various displays on earthquakes, volcanoes, ecosystems, water resources, and mapping that highlight current USGS research. Here you can get a general introduction to the nature, history, and mission of the USGS.

The hallways in Building 3 serve as a gallery for numerous USGS maps, publications, and posters on current research. A century-old plaster raised-relief map of California is mounted on the back of the lobby pillar. It was originally hand-crafted by a USGS cartographer, George Richards, in 1892 and was restored by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1945. During the restoration, additional information on the Sacramento Valley was added to the map. Note the prices of houses and land listed in the bottom left corner!

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