The Clarke Observatory is located on the Mount Union College

Mount Union College

The University of Mount Union is a 4-year private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Alliance, Ohio.Mount Union enrolls 2200 undergraduates. Approximately 50 percent are women and 50 percent are men, representing more than 22 states and 13 countries. Mount Union has an active alumni base of...

 campus in Alliance, Ohio

Alliance, Ohio

Alliance is a city in Stark and Mahoning counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 22,322 at the 2010 census. Alliance's nickname is "The Carnation City", and the city is home to the University of Mount Union....

.

History

Originally built for private use, the observatory

Observatory

An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...

 was sold to Elmer Harrold, another private owner, who donated to Mount Union College

Mount Union College

The University of Mount Union is a 4-year private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Alliance, Ohio.Mount Union enrolls 2200 undergraduates. Approximately 50 percent are women and 50 percent are men, representing more than 22 states and 13 countries. Mount Union has an active alumni base of...

 upon the graduation of his daughter from the college. A new observatory was built on campus

Campus

A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...

 to house the observatory in 1923 and outfitted with the telescope

Telescope

A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...

 from the first Clarke Observatory. The second observatory was demolished in 1969 and the telescope moved to a new home attached to East Hall at Mount Union College.

Observatories

First Observatory

• Location: Dunkirk, New York
• Construction Began: 1897
• Benefactor: Charles Ezra Hequembourg
• Telescope Mounted: 1897, German equatorial
• First Telescope: George N. Saegmuller
  George N. Saegmuller
  George N. Saegmuller was a German-born American inventor of many astronomical instruments and other mechanical devices.He attended technical schools in Erlangen and Nuremberg. In 1870 he moved to the United States, where he settled in Washington, DC and began working for a craftsman involved in...
  
   9-inch refractor, 117-inch focal length
• First Light: 1897?
• Dome Material: bronze
  Bronze
  Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
  
  
• Directors:
  • Charles Ezra Hequembourg, private owner (1897-1907)
  • Mrs. Hequembourg, private owner (1907-1914)

Second Observatory

• Location: Alliance, Ohio
  Alliance, Ohio
  Alliance is a city in Stark and Mahoning counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 22,322 at the 2010 census. Alliance's nickname is "The Carnation City", and the city is home to the University of Mount Union....
  
  
• Construction Began: 1923
• Benefactor: Elmer Harrold
• Telescope Mounted: ?
• First Telescope: George N. Saegmuller
  George N. Saegmuller
  George N. Saegmuller was a German-born American inventor of many astronomical instruments and other mechanical devices.He attended technical schools in Erlangen and Nuremberg. In 1870 he moved to the United States, where he settled in Washington, DC and began working for a craftsman involved in...
  
   9-inch refractor, 117-inch focal length, moved from New York
• Directors:
  • Elmer Harrold, private owner (1917-1919), donated to Mount Union College

Third Observatory

• Location: Alliance, Ohio
  Alliance, Ohio
  Alliance is a city in Stark and Mahoning counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 22,322 at the 2010 census. Alliance's nickname is "The Carnation City", and the city is home to the University of Mount Union....
  
  
• Construction Began: 1969
• Refinished: 1952, by the Alliance Tool Company
• Telescope Mounted: 1969
• First Telescope: 9-inch Saegmuller, refurbished with 8.5-inch lens with 135-inch focal length by J. W. Fecker Company of Pittsburgh.
• Directors:
  • James P. Rodman

Resources

Clarke Observatory Telescope History