On June 1, 1837, James C. Booth was hired as the Delaware State Geologist at $1,200.00 a year. His field work started in the summer of 1837 and ended in fall of 1838. During the winters of 1837-38 and 1838-39, Booth analyzed samples taken. In 1839-40 he wrote "The Memoir of the Geological Survey of the State of Delaware: Including the Application of the Geological Observations to Agriculture". In Booth's "survey", published May 4,1841, he performed analyses, discussed practical applications, and the name "survey" stuck to be the name for modern research and service oriented geologic agencies.

For more details about the History of DGS, see SP17 The Delaware Geological Survey: The Formative Years, 1951-1969.