Charles Henry Hitchcock (1836–1919) was an American geologist.
Hitchcock was born August 23, 1836 in Amherst, Massachusetts.[1] His father was Edward Hitchcock (1793–1864) who was a professor of geology and natural theology and then president of Amherst College. His mother was Orra White Hitchcock, who illustrated much of his father's work. Hitchcock attended Amherst College and considered entering the ministry. He married Martha Bliss Barrows.[1] In 1866 and 1867, Hitchcock studied at the Royal School of Mines in London, examined fossils in the British Museum, and visited glaciers in Switzerland.[2]
Hitchcock served as New Hampshire State Geologist from 1868 to 1878. His survey produced a three volume report, and an atlas of maps. It was the first set of detailed maps of the geology of the state.[3] He taught at Dartmouth College in 1868 and from 1869-1908 held the Hall Professorship of Geology and Mineralogy. He used the tetrahedral hypothesis which had been first published in 1875 by William Lowthian Green to explain the formation of the Earth's land masses.[4] His distant cousin was Harvey Rexford Hitchcock (1800–1855), who was an early missionary to Hawaii. This led to a publication of a book the volcanoes of Hawaii.[1]
Hitchcock left a collection of botanical specimens to the University of North Carolina Herbarium.[5]