Allegheny Observatory
The observatory in 2013
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| Organization | University of Pittsburgh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Code | 778 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°28′57″N 80°01′15″W / 40.482525°N 80.020829°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Established | February 15, 1859 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Allegheny Observatory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Telescopes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Thaw Memorial Refractor | 30-inch refracting telescope |
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| Keeler Memorial Reflector (retired) |
30-inch Cassegrain reflector |
| Fitz-Clark Refractor | 13-inch refracting telescope |
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Built: |
1900-1912 |
| Architect: Architectural style(s): |
Thorsten E. Billquist Classic Revival |
| Added to NRHP: NRHP Reference#: Governing body: |
June 22, 1979 |
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Allegheny Observatory
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| Location | 159 Riverview Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Built | 1900 |
| Architect | Billquist,T.E. |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 79002157 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 22, 1979 |
| Designated PHMC | November 2, 1979 |
| Designated PHLF | 1973 |
June 22, 1979
79002157
University of Pittsburgh
The Allegheny Observatory is an American astronomical research institution, a part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh. The facility is listed on the National Register of Historical Places (ref. # 79002157, added June 22, 1979) and is designated as a Pennsylvania state and Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation historic landmark.
The observatory was founded on February 15, 1859, in the city of Allegheny, Pennsylvania (incorporated into the City of Pittsburgh in 1907) by a group of wealthy industrialists calling themselves the Allegheny Telescope Association. The observatory's initial purpose was for general public education as opposed to research, but by 1867 the revenues derived from this had receded. The facility was then donated to the Western University of Pennsylvania, today known as the University of Pittsburgh.
The University hired Samuel Pierpont Langley to be the first director. One of the research programs initiated under his leadership was of sunspots. He drew very detailed drawings of sunspots which are still used in astronomical textbooks to this day. He also had the building expanded to include dark rooms, class rooms, dormitories, and a lecture hall.
In 1869, Langley created income for observatory by selling subscription service to time that was accurately determined by astronomical measurements and transmitted over telegraphs to customers. The Pennsylvania Railroad was the most influential subscriber to the "Allegheny Time" system. The Allegheny Observatory's service is believed to have been the first regular and systematic system of time distribution to railroads and cities as well as the origin of the modern standard time system. By 1870, the Allegheny Time service extended over 2,500 miles with 300 telegraph offices receiving time signals. On November 18, 1883, the first day of railroad standard time in North America, the Allegheny Observatory transmitted a signal on telegraph lines operated by railroads in Canada and the United States. The signal marked noon, Eastern Standard Time, and railroads across the continent synchronized their schedules based on this signal. The standard time that began on this day continues in North American use to this day.
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Wikipedia