Chester Stock, Ph.D. - Observation Pit
Hancock Park
Panel 1:
Chester Stock, Ph.D.
January 28, 1892 - December 7, 1950
Paleontalogist
Chief curator of science - Los Angeles County Museum
Chairman of the Division of Geological Sciences
California Institute of Technology
who, encouraged by the foresight and generosity of
G. Allan Hancock, inspired his many co-workers
in developing and preserving the
treasures of Rancho La Brea
Presented by the Los Angeles County Museum Association.
Panel 2:
Observation Pit
The observation pit at the west end of Hancock Park is a partially excavated deposit of fossils and bubbling asphalt enclosed in a circular building that first opened in 1952. Depth of excavation 12 feet.
Located on the site of Pit 101, the display in the Observation Pit demonstrates what the fossil localities looked like while being excavated. This building was dedicated in 1951 to the memory of Dr. Chester Stock, the Caltech professor and County Museum curator, who personally described many of the different kinds of fossil mammals recovered from the tar pits.
Photo captions:
(1) Chester Stock measuring a fossil while a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1925.
(2) Dire Wolf.
(3) Chester Stock examining dire wolf skull and teeth in 1939.
Marker can be reached from Wilshire Boulevard west of South Curson Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
