Loomis Observatory (also known as the Elias Loomis Observatory) is the second oldest observatory in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, located in Hudson,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Construction was completed in 1838. It is on the campus of Western Reserve Academy, a college preparatory school. When the observatory was constructed the school was Western Reserve College, which later repaired to Cleveland and is now known as Case Western Reserve University. The Loomis Observatory is the oldest observatory in the United States still sitting in its original location. The oldest American observatory, the Hopkins Observatory at

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

, also completed in 1838, has been relocated twice in its history. Under the influence and design of Professor

Elias Loomis Elias Loomis (August 7, 1811 – August 15, 1889) was an American mathematician. He served as a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Western Reserve College (now Case Western Reserve University), the University of the City of New Yo ...

, who purchased the necessary instruments in England after studying in Europe, the observatory was built by architect Simeon Porter. The original Troughton & Simms equatorial telescope and Robert Molyneux-built

astronomical clock An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets. Definition ...

remain in the observatory dating to 1837. An inscription on the historic marker reads: "

and Charles Augustus Young worked in this Observatory, built in 1838, the third to be erected in the United States, the second oldest standing (1926)." James Ellsworth restored the observatory in 1908, and it was again restored in 1963.

References

{{authority control 1838 establishments in Ohio Case Western Reserve University National Register of Historic Places in Summit County, Ohio School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio