Observatory

CHAPTER NINE

The Observatory

A telescope had already been installed and removed from the Mount Wilson complex by Harvard University and there were plans to put another there by 1892. The 40-inch lenses for the piece were being prepared by Alvin P. Clark, a famous lens grinder of the period from Corning, New York. Construction of the observatory would be done at the expense of a Mr. Spence of USC. Prof. Charles Eliot, president of Harvard had made the trip to Pasadena to meet with a number of local businessmen to plan the shipment of the lenses. Pasadena hotelier, Walter Raymond, of the Raymond Hotel, offered to have them sent by rail to Pasadena, and Prof. Lowe offered to have them shipped to Mount Wilson via his yet-to-be-built Mount Wilson Railway. Spence past away in the interim without leaving one word of the promised funding, and the whole project was scrapped. The lenses ended up at the Yerkes Institute in Wisconsin.

So from Alvin P. Clark he acquired a 16" telescope which he had installed on the upper ridge of Echo.

Since the plans for Prof. Lowe's railway had changed as well, and for the fact that he was a patron of the astronomical sciences, he planned to make the Mount Lowe enterprise the astronomical center of Southern California.

Lowe was able to enlist Professor Lewis Swift as his resident astronomer. His reputation had already preceded him and in his work at the Mount Lowe Observatory, he was able to list some 95 new nebulae from this vantage point. The night skies over the San Gabriel Mountains had not yet been compromised by city lights.

Professor Swift left the Observatory in 1900 after his eye sight had failed him. Unable to read, he left all his books behind. He was replaced by Professor Lucien Larkin who ran the observatory more or less as a tourist attraction until his sudden death in 1925.

To the right see the observatory with the photo development studio in the fore and at the bottom of the photo is the covered reservoir which provided water for all the buildings down the ridge. Notice a hand pump at the ready so anyone at observatory level could access water.

Of all the Mount Lowe Properties, the Observatory was the only building that remained in Professor Lowe's possession. A wind storm of gale force blew the building over in 1928. Charles Lawrence, the official photographer, had become a great enthusiast of astronomy, and after Prof. Larkin's death, he ran the observatory for its tourist appeal. He was in the building at the time of the storm, but was fortunately able to run for his life when the place went down.

Whenever there were extreme conditions that could threaten the telescope, its more delicate parts such as the lenses and eyepieces would be removed and packed away for safe keeping. Resultantly, only the less critical tube was destroyed in the storm.

The telescope has been remounted at the University of santa Clara where it still works today as an excellent instrument.

HERE'S ONE MORE LOOK AT A MOUNT ECHO PANORAMA

Another display shows a panorama of Mount Echo with the Chalet all the way to the right (A), The Echo Mountain House (B), the Powerhouse (C), The dorm/workshop (D), car barn (E), covered reservoir (F) and the Mount Lowe Observatory (G). The valley below is slowly developing as many of the roads are cutting through orchards and undeveloped properties. The arrow is pointing to Lake Avenue at about Calaveras Street, Mounatin Junction.