Warner Observatory
Encyclopedia
The Warner Observatory was completed in Rochester
, New York
in 1882. It was financed by Hulbert Harrington Warner
, patron to the American astronomer
Lewis Swift.
By the time the 16-inch refractive telescope
, made by Alvan Clark and Sons, was installed, it had cost Warner almost $100,000 but was the fourth largest in the United States at the time.
Swift used the observatory to investigate comets and nebulae, including the periodic comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR
. On Tuesday and Friday evenings, Swift opened the doors to the public to those who had bought a .25-cent ticket from Warner’s Patent Medicine Store. This was the first time an observatory had been opened to the public.
After Warner was forced into bankruptcy
in 1893, Swift moved the telescope to California
where his new patron, Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
, was building an observatory on Echo Mountain
. By that time observations in New York were becoming increasingly difficult due to the developing city around it.
The building then fell vacant, and between 1901 and 1909 it was operated as the Vernon Academy of Mental Sciences and the Vernon Sanatorium.
In 1920 the building was boarded up, and finally razed in 1931.
A good description of the observatory can be found in Swift's own notes:
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1882. It was financed by Hulbert Harrington Warner
Hulbert Harrington Warner
Hulbert Harrington Warner was a Rochester, New York businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune from the sales of patent medicine.-Biography:...
, patron to the American astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
Lewis Swift.
By the time the 16-inch refractive 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...
, made by Alvan Clark and Sons, was installed, it had cost Warner almost $100,000 but was the fourth largest in the United States at the time.
Swift used the observatory to investigate comets and nebulae, including the periodic comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR
11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR
11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR is a periodic comet in our solar system.Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel originally discovered the comet on November 27, 1869, it was later observed by Lewis Swift on October 11, 1880 and realised to be the same comet.After 1908 the comet became an unobservable lost comet,...
. On Tuesday and Friday evenings, Swift opened the doors to the public to those who had bought a .25-cent ticket from Warner’s Patent Medicine Store. This was the first time an observatory had been opened to the public.
After Warner was forced into bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
in 1893, Swift moved the telescope to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
where his new patron, Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
Thaddeus Sobieski Coulincourt Lowe , also known as Professor T. S. C. Lowe, was an American Civil War aeronaut, scientist and inventor, mostly self-educated in the fields of chemistry, meteorology, and aeronautics, and the father of military aerial reconnaissance in the United States...
, was building an observatory on Echo Mountain
Echo Mountain
Echo Mountain is a summit on the Angeles National Forest above Altadena, California.-Geography:Echo Mountain was shaped from an alluvial fan between Rubio and Las Flores canyons. It is geographically defined by Castle Canyon to its leeward side, Rubio Canyon at its foot, and Las Flores Canyon on...
. By that time observations in New York were becoming increasingly difficult due to the developing city around it.
The building then fell vacant, and between 1901 and 1909 it was operated as the Vernon Academy of Mental Sciences and the Vernon Sanatorium.
In 1920 the building was boarded up, and finally razed in 1931.
A good description of the observatory can be found in Swift's own notes:
- "…It is delightfully situated on the south side of East Avenue, one of the most beautiful and fashionable streets of this city. The building stands about one-third of a mile south of the University of Rochester, nearly one and one-half miles south of east of the Court House, a few steps west of the princely residence of Mr. H. H. Warner, on what fifty years ago was a dense forest. Its horizon is nearly unobstructed, in every direction, in some points forty miles distant being had. In nearly every outlook, woodland, field and meadow combine to produce most picturesque effect.
- The material used in its construction is white sandstone from Lockport--sixty miles west--and, unlike many varieties of this kind of stone, is free from red oxide of iron. The tower is circular in form, with a diameter of thirty-one feet, outside measurement. Its revolving dome is, of course, of the same diameter. This dome embodies some novel features, and in the matter of economy of construction, lightness, ease of revolution and simplicity of the device for rotating, leaves little to be desired."