“You don’t work for Lowell Observatory, you are Lowell Observatory.”
1966 landmark dedication. Lowell Observatory Archives
LOWELL OBSERVATORY Celebrating a 125-year-long relationship
AND FLAGSTAFF
T
KEVIN SCHINDLER, HISTORIAN, AND JEFFREY HALL, DIRECTOR
he year 2019 is marked by an uncanny number of anniversaries with strong northern Arizona ties. John Wesley Powell led his first expedition down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon 150 years ago, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill into law designating the Grand Canyon a national park 100 years ago and astronauts who had trained in northern Arizona first set foot on the Moon 50 years ago. Then there is the 125th anniversary of a gentleman astronomer arriving in Flagstaff and establishing the community’s first permanent research facility. His name was Percival Lowell and the astronomical observatory he established has grown into a world-recognized center of research and education. We are pleased to share some of the highlights of the observatory’s 125 years in this special publication by our friends at the Arizona Daily Sun. Lowell Observatory is known for its legacy of cutting-edge research ranging from detection of the first evidence of the expanding universe in 1912 and discovery of Pluto in 1930, to modern-day studies of the solar system and beyond with one of the world’s most powerful tools for exploring space, Lowell’s Discovery Channel Telescope. The observatory is also a center for informal science education, with recent surges in visitation demonstrating the public’s desire to
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Longtime Lowell director John Hall. Lowell Observatory Archives
Percival Lowell. Lowell Observatory Archives seek out activities that allow them to experience wonder and awe. In itself, this dual identity of Lowell—as a research center that also educates and entertains guests—makes for a unique story and is shared elsewhere in this
publication. But there is much more, because Lowell has accomplished this not as a lone organization isolated from the rest of northern Arizona, but as an active, dedicated member of the community.
Lowell’s Discovery Channel Telescope. Lowell Observatory Archives
Lowell has, in many ways, grown up alongside Flagstaff. Both the city and the observatory trace their beginnings to the southeastern side of the mesa known today by locals as Mars Hill. It was here that the original town site of Flagstaff—established in 1884—was located. Downtown was later moved a mile to the east, where the flatter grade proved easier for outgoing trains trying to gather speed. Ten years after Flagstaff’s founding, and only three years after Coconino County was established, Percival Lowell’s assistant, Andrew Douglass, climbed to the top of that same mesa on a cool day in April to observe the quality of the air for telescopic viewing. This was the 11th site he had tested in Arizona, with a goal of finding an ideal location to build Lowell’s observatory. Mars Hill proved the most suitable of all the places Douglass had tested in Flagstaff, as well as in Tombstone, Tucson, Tempe and Prescott. Douglass decided to build the facility a half mile to the north of Site 11, where the slope up the mesa was gentler and thus more ideal to build a road upon. When word got out that Flagstaff was the chosen location for the new observatory, 82 community members signed a letter pledging their support. The names represent a who’s who of Flagstaff pioneers—Babbitts, Riordans, Brannens and others—and the gesture triggered a long, mutually beneficial relationship between the community and observatory. Lowell and Flagstaff followed parallel, often crossing, paths on their journeys to maturity. As Flagstaff celebrated the growth of Arizona that Please see OBSERVATORY, Page A4
Current Director Jeffrey Hall. Lowell Observatory Archives