State‑supported geologic work in Georgia began with the four‑year appointment of John Cotting as State Geologist in 1836.  Valuable mineral deposits as well as the measurement of magnetic variations in the state were noted during this first Survey. A second Survey, however, was not established until 1874, thirty‑four years later. During the seven years of the second Survey, additional mineral resources including gold, were studied in the state. The Geological Survey of Georgia was established for the third time in 1890 and has operated continuously since then under various names. In 1943, the Survey became the Department of Mines, Mining, and Geology of the State Division of Conservation. In 1972, under the Department of Natural Resources, it became the Earth and Water Division and was subsequently renamed the Geologic and Water Resources Division (1976). Since 1978, it became the Georgia Geologic Survey, a branch of the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources. In late 2004 the Georgia Geologic Survey was abolished; however, most of the work performed by the Survey was continued in the Regulatory Support Program of the Watershed Protection Branch of the Environmental Protection Division.