Joseph Barlow Lippincott, 1864-1942

J. B. Lippincott Papers, 1882-1942
ca. 34 linear ft.

Correspondence, reports, documents, clippings, and several descriptive photo albums pertaining to projects on dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, and other water supply works, ground water and streamflow in California, in particular for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and in Arizona and other Western States.

Finding aids: Water Resources Reports and Papers in the J.B. Lippincott Collection, compiled by Gerald J. Giefer and Anelle McCarty Kloski (Water Resources Center Archives Series Report no. 21, 1970).
Online finding aid available via the Online Archive of California.

Call numbers: LIPP

   Joseph Barlow Lippincott was born on October 10, 1864. He attended Dickinson College at Carlisle, Pa., from 1880 to 1882, when his family moved to Kansas. In 1887, after spending several years driving cattle in Texas, he graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering.

   From 1889 to 1892, Lippincott was topographer for the U.S. Geological Survey in charge of making topographic maps in New Mexico and California. In 1893 he became assistant engineer for the Bear Valley Irrigation Company, on the construction of an early irrigation project on the headwaters of the Santa Ana River in Southern California.

   With the organization of the U.S. Reclamation Service in 1902, Lippincott became supervising engineer of all Reclamation Service activities in the Pacific Coast region from the Klamath River in Oregon to the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California.

   In 1890, Lippincott was married to Josephine P. Cook of Kansas City, Missouri. They had two children: a daughter, Rose, who died in 1919; and a son, Joseph Reading Lippincott, who was killed in the Philippines during World War II. The Lippincotts lived at on West 12th Street in Los Angeles.

   Lippincott died on November 4, 1942, at the age of 78.

   The Lippincott photograph collection consists of over 5,000 photographs, many taken by Lippincott himself. The photos cover the years 1895 to 1930 and visually document many of the projects in which Lippincott was involved. Of particular importance are a series of photographs which record the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.

   WRCA acquired the Lippincott collection in January 1967. The collection was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Q. Volk, of Los Angeles. Volk was an associate in Lippincott's engineering practice.

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