refracting telescope Cincinnati Observatory was built by
Ormsby M. Mitchel at the peak of
Mount Ida, a hill that overlooks downtown Cincinnati.
Nicholas Longworth donated of land for the purpose. The
Holy Cross Monastery and Chapel stands today at the site. The cornerstone was laid on November 9, 1843, and presiding over the occasion was former
President John Quincy Adams, with an introduction by Judge
Jacob Burnet. At 77 years old, it was to be his last public speech, and Mount Ida was renamed to
Mount Adams in his honor. The Merz refractor was the biggest telescope in the United States in the early 1840s. In 1871, the Observatory came under the control of the
University of Cincinnati and in 1873 it was transferred from Mt. Adams to Mt. Lookout in order to escape the smoke and dirt of the city, where it remains today. The ground on which it stands was given to the city by John Kilgour in 1872. A smaller structure, the Mitchel Building, holds the original telescope taken from the Mount Adams observatory. The 1873 building was built by the firm of Cincinnati architect
Samuel Hannaford. From 1884 to 1930 the director of the Observatory was
Jermain G. Porter. In 1998 the Observatory was declared a National Historic Landmark. The
asteroid 1373 Cincinnati was named to honor the staff of the observatory.
Instruments • The 1845 Merz und Mahler 11 inch
refractor – Housed in the "Mitchel Building". May be the oldest continually used telescope in the world. It is currently used for public education programs. • The 1904
Alvan Clark & Sons 16 inch refractor – Housed in the "Herget Building". Used in public education programs and graduate research. == See also ==