The Mount Diablo Surveyors Historical SocietyApril 27 - June 30, 2013
The iconic Mount Diablo is nothing if not complex. This new exhibit includes some of the mountain's diverse qualities and intriguing history. It features antique surveying equipment and stories about the Mountain's Initial Point, over twenty historic survey maps related to the 1851 General Land Office (GLO) Initial Point and the 1852 U.S. Coast Survey Station Mount Diablo, photographs of unique plants and trees, and maps showing the growth of open space around Mount Diablo. Special displays are provided on the Diablo Beacon and the new outdoor treasure hunts called geocaching.
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Special Elements in the Exhibit
Surveys around Mount Diablo. The Mount Diablo Surveyors Historical Society (MDSHS) is mounting this exhibit in the Freight Room. It will feature the various surveys which have been made based on the Mountain and will display historic surveying equipment, maps and interpretive information. See mdshs.org for more information. Click to see photographs of the Mount Diablo Surveyors Historical Society's portion of this exhibit. Geocaching will be displayed by theMount Diablo Interpretive Association (MDIA) in the baggage room. This 21st century treasure hunt began in 2000. Its predecessor was a 150-year-old game called letterboxing which used clues and references to landmarks embedded in stories. When Global Positioning Systems (GPS) became inexpensive and increasingly accurate, geocaches placed in containers could be located by using GPS coordinates and precise maps. The caches come in different sizes, have logs, and often have small items which are exchanged for other items. For more information visit: geocaching.com. Also visit Benchmark Hunting, a specialized form of geocaching that searches for survey monuments using National Geodetic Survey (NGS) datasheets. Maps of the State Park and open space surrounding it. Provided by Save Mount Diablo, these maps show that there is now a sweep of preserved open space on all sides of the Mountain which amounts to 110,000 acres. See savemountdiablo.org for more information The Diablo Beacon exhibit comes from Save Mount Diablo. The Standard Oil Beacon was placed near the summit of the mountain and lit in 1928 (remotely, by Charles Lindbergh) to assist pilots in the early days of aviation. Shut off on December 8, 1941, it was re-lit on December 7, 1964. Each Dec. 7th since that time, it has been lit to honor Pearl Harbor fatalities and survivors. It was moved to the top of the summit building about 1939. The beacon is now in significant disrepair and, with the lead of Save Mount Diablo, a restoration is under way. For more information see: savemountdiablo.org. Flora and Fauna of the mountain provided by MDIA. The Waiting Room displays photographs and art of trees, shrubs, grasses, birds and flowers of Mount Diablo. Go to mdia.org for additional information. Mary Leolin Bowerman will be featured in the Waiting Room. The pioneering botanist and ecologist of Mount Diablo, she advocated for preservation of the Mountain and its foothills and was a co-founder of Save Mount Diablo. On display are her books, her plant press and tripod in a case, and a Mount Diablo map which includes names from local and state park sources and some which she coined herself when drawing the map for her 1944 book, The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Mount Diablo, California; Their Distribution and Association into Plant Communities MDSHS member Duncan Marshall also participated as a docent for this exhibit on several Saturdays. Photographs by Michael J. Foley, ©2013 MDSHS. All rights reserved. Click to see photographs of the Mount Diablo Surveyors Historical Society's portion of this exhibit. MDSHS - Mount Diablo Surveyors Historical Society |
