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: 1958, fully 1964

Sold: 1984

Demolition Date: 2011

Original Purpose of Building: A scientific observatory.

Current Use: Destroyed

History

Beginning in 1921, Buckstaff built a multiple domed observatory complex at his 2199 N. Main Street property where he observed stars, sun spots and took decades of weather observations for the National Weather Service.   In 1958,  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. At the time of his donation, it was the third largest in the state (behind the Yerkes and one at UW Madison).   In 1979, the site was added to the National Registry of Historic Places. Due to the expense of maintaining the site, the University sold the observatory on December 31, 1984.  After being in private hands for nearly 30 years, the observatory was dismantled 2011 and was redeveloped as home sites.  

Photos

Buckstaff Observatory from Main St. 

Astronomy instructor John Evans (left) and Ralph Buckstaff  (right), inside the Buckstaff Observatory, 1961.