Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Harvard’s Mount Wilson Station

Photographed By Roger W. Sinnott, June 5, 2012

1. Harvard’s Mount Wilson Station Marker

Inscription.
Station of Harvard College Observatory,
1889–1890.

Erected 1910 by Edward C. Pickering, Harvard College Observatory.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1889.

Location. 34° 13.447′ N, 118° 3.781′ W. Marker is in Angeles National Forest, California, in Los Angeles County. Marker is on Mt. Wilson Road, on the right when traveling south. Marker is just inside a fenced-off area of television and radio antennas, before you get to the main parking lot on Mount Wilson. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Pasadena CA 91107, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Benjamin Davis Wilson (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Michelson Pier on Mount Wilson (approx. 0.3 miles away); The 100-Inch Hooker Telescope (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Mount Wilson 100 Inch Telescope (approx. 0.4 miles away); Adams Pack Station (approx. 3 miles away); Mount Lowe Railway (approx. 3.4 miles away); World’s Largest Blossoming Plant (approx. 3.7 miles away); Mount Wilson Trail (approx. 3.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Angeles National Forest.

Regarding Harvard’s Mount Wilson Station. During the late

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19th century, barely a trail existed up Wilson’s Peak, the 5,700-foot mountain overlooking Pasadena and Los Angeles, California. Getting up or down was a five-hour trek for hikers and mules. Nevertheless, Edward Pickering, director of Harvard College Observatory, decided to see if the mountain would make a good site for an astronomical observatory. He sent his brother William (who was also an astronomer) and Alvan G. Clark, of the noted telescope-making firm Alvan Clark & Sons, to spend the night of January 23, 1889, at the summit. Following their favorable report, in May 1889 Harvard set up a 13-inch photographic telescope there, and during the next year and a half this instrument provided fine photographs of Moon, planets, Orion Nebula, and star clusters on just about every clear night.

Although Pickering failed in his efforts to secure permanent title to the land for Harvard, the short-lived station proved that Wilson’s Peak had the frequent clear skies and air quality needed for serious astronomical work. In commemoration, Pickering erected this brass plaque in 1910. In a sense, the pioneering station had paved the way for George Ellery Hale, with funding from Andrew Carnegie, to establish the far more famous Mount Wilson Observatory that is still in operation at the summit.

Much of the above information is adapted from the histories of Harvard Observatory
Photographed By Roger W. Sinnott, June 5, 2012

2. Wider View Looking Southeast
The plaque can be seen just inside the chain-link fence at extreme right. On the road ahead is the main parking lot serving the summit of Mount Wilson.
by S. I. Bailey (1931) and by B. Z. Jones and L. G. Boyd (1971).

Site of Harvard Station Today image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Roger W. Sinnott, June 5, 2012

3. Site of Harvard Station Today

Giant radio and TV towers mark the location of the old Harvard astronomical station on Mount Wilson today. In the foreground, members of the Antique Telescope Society gathered to observe the transit of Venus across the disk of the Sun on June 5, 2012. This is the only transit of Venus ever observed from Mount Wilson, because the one in 2004 was best seen from Europe, Africa, or Asia, and in 1882 (the next Venus transit before that) Mount Wilson was wilderness.

Nearby Marker, 100 Inch Telescope image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Craig Baker, July 1, 2018

4. Nearby Marker, 100 Inch Telescope

Located inside the dome of the 100 inch telescope.

100 Inch Telescope Dome image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Craig Baker, June 30, 2018

5. 100 Inch Telescope Dome

This is where Edwin Hubble proved the universe extends beyond the Milky Way galaxy, and the universe is expanding.

100 Inch Telescope image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Craig Baker, June 30, 2018

6. 100 Inch Telescope

The largest telescope in the world from 1918 to 1949.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 3, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 8, 2012, by Roger W. Sinnott of Chelmsford, Massachusetts. This page has been viewed 921 times since then and 58 times this year. Last updated on July 4, 2018, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on July 8, 2012, by Roger W. Sinnott of Chelmsford, Massachusetts. 4, 5, 6. submitted on July 4, 2018, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.