Delphos in Van Wert County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Leslie C. Peltier

Photographed by Duane Hall, October 1, 2013

1. Leslie C. Peltier Marker

Inscription. A farm boy with a tenth grade education, Leslie Peltier, born near Delphos in 1900, achieved fame as one of the most famous astronomers of the twentieth century. In 1916, he raised $18 dollars by picking 900 quarts of strawberries on his father's farm in order to purchase his first telescope. His stargazing abilities led Harvard Observatory's Dr. Harlow Shapley to proclaim him "the world's greatest non-professional astronomer." During his 65 years of stargazing, Leslie Peltier discovered 12 comets and two novae and made 132,000 variable star observations. Peltier made his discoveries on his homemade "merry-go-round" observatory that rotated on a child's merry-go-round track and housed the optics from a 6-inch, f/8 telescope on loan from Princeton University. To recognize his achievements, the Astronomical League created the annual Leslie C. Peltier Award in 1980 to recognize an amateur astronomer who contributed to astronomy observations of lasting significance.

Erected 2003 by Ohio Bicentennial Commission, the Longaberger Company, People of Delphos, and the Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 5-81.)

Topics and series.

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Science & Medicine. In addition, it is included in the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1900.

Location. 40° 50.615′ N, 84° 20.555′ W. Marker is in Delphos, Ohio, in Van Wert County. It is at the intersection of W. Second Street and N. Jefferson Street, on the left when traveling west on W. Second Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 309 W Second Street, Delphos OH 45833, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Ohio’s Till Plains.

It is also in the American Midwest

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Vietnam War Memorial (here, next to this marker); Veterans War Memorial (a

Photographed by Duane Hall, October 1, 2013

2. Leslie C. Peltier Marker

In front of the Delphos Public Library

few steps from this marker); Persian Gulf War Memorial (a few steps from this marker); Marguerite Canal Boat Recovery Site (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church (approx. 0.2 miles away); Delphos (approx. 0.2 miles away); Quarried Rock (approx. 0.2 miles away); 09.11.2001 (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Delphos.

Also see . . . Leslie C. Peltier - American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). (Submitted on October 3, 2013.)

Photographed by Duane Hall, October 1, 2013

3. Leslie C. Peltier Marker

Nearby is a sundial monument to Leslie C. Peltier

Sundial Monument to Leslie C. Peltier image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane Hall, October 1, 2013

4. Sundial Monument to Leslie C. Peltier

Photographed by Craig Doda, July 8, 2023

5. Sundial Monument to Leslie C. Peltier

Credits. This page was last revised on July 22, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 3, 2013, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. This page has been viewed 1,414 times since then and 56 times this year. Last updated on May 24, 2018, by Michael Baker of Lima, Ohio. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on October 3, 2013, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. 5. submitted on July 10, 2023, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.