Observatory Buildings
Address60, Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number665
Building Root Number
04190
Architect (Original)
Unknown
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after its function.Historical NotesThe Harvard College Observatory is a complex of buildings, in the Garden Street district of Cambridge, which forms a portion of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The Observatory was founded in 1839 with the appointment of William Cranch Bond as the Astronomical Observer to the University. The first telescope was installed in 1847.Additional Information
Bond, William Cranch. History and Description of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard. Cambridge, Mass., 1856. https://books.google.com/books?id=gENHAAAAcAAJ&dq=The%20astronomical%20observatory%20of%20Harvard%20University&pg=PP3#v=onepage&q=The%20astronomical%20observatory%20of%20Harvard%20University&f=false.
Mitchell, William. The Astronomical Observatory of Harvard University. Boston, 1851 https://books.google.com/books?id=UPU-AAAAYAAJ&dq=The%20astronomical%20observatory%20of%20Harvard%20University&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=The%20astronomical%20observatory%20of%20Harvard%20University&f=false.
"The Astrophotographic Building of the Harvard Observatory." Science, 25 March 1932, Vol. 75:1943, pp.328-329.
Baker, Daniel W. History of the Harvard College Observatory During the Period 1840-1890. Cambridge, Mass., 1890. Harvard University Archives call number HUF 165.490.6
History of Observatory from 1839-ca.1900: Book of Facts, ca. 1900. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 630.400.
Harvard College Observatory. Harvard College Observatory : The First Century, a Review of the Past and a Preview of the Future. Cambridge, Mass., 1946. Available at multiple locations with various call numbers consult HOLLIS for details.
General Information By and About the Harvard College Observatory. Harvard University Archives call number HUF 165.2.
“The Harvard Observatory.” Cambridge Tribune, 18 Feb. 1888, p. 6.
Harvard University Archives. Construction Management Records, ca. 1953-1986. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.8000
