1398 East Ann St.
The Detroit Observatory was the crowning achievement of UM President Henry Tappan and was named for the Detroit businessmen who funded it. The regents sited the observatory on a four-acre lot, high on a hill outside the city limits. Although only half a mile east of Central Campus, it was then considered way out in the country. In the early days it could be reached only by a footpath, and astronomers complained of the long walk.
Tappan's use of the money was to travel to New York to purchase a 56-inch Pistor and Martins meridian circle and a 12 5/8-inch Henry Fitz refracting telescope, which in their day were among the largest in the world. A point of pride was that the Fitz telescope was made in America to European standards. This acquisition was part of Tappan's plan to make the UM into a great research university.
This stucco-over-brick building--scored to resemble a stone Greek Temple--has both Greek Revival and Italianate details, including classical columns and eave brackets. It is the oldest unaltered observatory in America that has its original instruments intact, in their original mounts, and operational. The meridian-circle telescope is the oldest in its original mount in the entire world. The building is the second oldest on campus (next to the president’s house and the oldest unaltered one.
In 1998 the University undertook a major renovation of the Observatory under the watchful eye of Patricia Whitesell. It was meticulously restored and received an award from the Historic District Commission. Today it is a division of the Bentley Historical Library and is open to visitors on weekends. Docents explain the instruments and demonstrate how the heavens were observed in the mid-19th century. They will let you pull the rope to turn the dome!" A major addition named for Judy and Stanley Frankel opened in 2022 with classroom, event, and exhibit space while making the entire complex handicap accessible.
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