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About the
Detroit Observatory
Built in 1854 the Detroit Observatory was
the first scientific research facility at the University of Michigan and
the oldest observatory of its type in the nation. It was designated
a Michigan State Historic Site in 1958 and placed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
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History
from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Observatory
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In 1852 after a speech promoting the university, President
Henry Philip Tappan was approached by Detroit businessman
Henry N. Walker, who with others from Detroit raised a total of
$22,000 for building an astronomical observatory. In 1853, land on
Ann Street in Ann Arbor was obtained as the building site. Construction
was completed in 1854, and the building was named the Detroit Observatory
to recognize the benefactors who funded its construction. The building
housed a 12⅝-inch (32 cm)
Henry Fitz, Jr. refracting telescope which was the third largest
telescope in the world when it was installed in 1857. In 1868, a
director's residence was added on the west end of the building. The
residence was enlarged and improved in 1905-06, and another, larger wing
containing academic and office space was added in 1908. The 1908 addition
included a second dome and space for a new 37 1/2-inch reflecting
telescope.
The director's residence was demolished in 1954 to make way for the
expansion of nearby Couzens Hall; the 1908 addition was demolished in
1976. The astronomy department moved from the building in 1963, and
the Detroit Observatory soon became derelict, and in the 1970s was
threatened with complete demolition. However, the building was placed on
the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and restored in 1997-98.
In 2005, the Detroit Observatory became a division of the
Bentley Historical Library.
The function of the Detroit Observatory
on campus was taken over by the
Angell Hall Observatory which was completed much later. The
observatories of the University of Michigan include the Detroit
Observatory (1854), the Angell Hall Observatory (1927), the
Lamont-Hussey Observatory (formerly in South Africa, 1928) and the
McMath-Hulbert Observatory at Lake Angelus, Michigan, 1930. |
