Buckstaff Observatory

Name

Buckstaff was one-time president of the Buckstaff furniture company and an amateur astronomer, meteorologist and citizen scientist. He was made the director of the Buckstaff Observatory by the University after gifting the property to the school.  

Facts

Gifted to University: 1959, fully 1964

Sold: 1984

Demolition Date: 2011

Original Purpose of Building: A scientific observatory.

Current Use: Destroyed

History

Beginning in 1921 Buckstaff built multiple domed observatories at his 2199 N. Main Street property on the north side of Oshkosh where he observed stars, sun spots and took decades of weather observations for the National Weather Service.   In 1959,  he donated 1/5 interest in the facility to the University for its growing physics/astronomy program. In 1964, the University became the sole owner.  The Observatory contained a sixteen-inch telescope, which used a series of reflecting mirrors, two refractory telescopes, weather observation instruments, a manometer for measuring the pressures of gases and vapors, an automatic rain gauge and a barometer. In 1979 the site was added to the National Registry of Historic Places. Due to the expenses of maintaining the site, the University sold the observatory on December 31, 1984.  After being in private hands for 30 years, the observatories were dismantled in 2011 and the site was redeveloped as home sites.  

Photos