History of the Observatory

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	Under Construction Workers pose for a photograph at the base of the rooftop observatory on the Teachout Library building about 1900. The lower edge of the rotating observatory dome can be seen at the top of this picture (click to see an enlarged image). Photo courtesy Hiram College archives.
	Teachout Library and Observatory -- around 1900 This is a view looking south, across Hinsdale Street, at the northern elevation of the building. The photographic print was discovered at a February 2009 North Canton auction by Cary Bacher of Richfield, Ohio who provided us with a scan of the image. Photo courtesy Cary Bacher.
	Teachout Library and Observatory -- 1900 A new library building was completed in 1900, at Hiram College, and included observatory facilities. Donor Abram Teachout paid the full cost of construction: $10,000. A dome sat atop a tower above the treetops. The low, flat-roofed structure at the left side of the library is a transit observatory. The facility was beautiful but its location, atop the building's boiler room, was not good. Soot and heated air dirtied the telescope's lens and roiled the air. This view is from the southwest looking northeast. Photo courtesy Hiram College archives.
	This view of the original Teachout Library and Observatory is from the northeast looking southwest. A portion of the original foundation was incorporated into a newer building on campus including the distintive curved base of the observatory tower. This site is the highest elevation on campus and in Hiram. Photo courtesy Hiram College archives.
	Lathrop Cooley (Oct. 25, 1821 - Jan. 2, 1910) Upon the occasion of his 80th birthday, Disciples of Christ (Christian Church) minister Lathrop Cooley purchased a high-quality telescope for the new library building. Built by Warner and Swasey, Cleveland, the telescope cost $4,000. During dedication ceremonies, Cooley remarked, "This instrument is erected here so that you may climb the steep of heaven and walk among the stars." Cooley, an active minister in Disciples of Christ churches, was also a successful businessman, philanthropist, real estate investor, and a benefactor and trustee of Hiram College. He was buried in Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland. Photo courtesy Hiram College archives. Original image by Watkins of Medina, Ohio; undated.
	A Grand New Telescope Colman Bancroft, professor of mathematics, at the eyepiece of the Cooley Telescope, at the Teachout Library and Observatory about 1901. Photo courtesy Hiram College archives.
	Fire at the Library Spectators watch in the cold February 1939 air as firefighters work on the roof of the burning Teachout Observatory and Library. The library was seriously damaged in the incident. Fortunately most of the library's collection and the observatory were saved. The outlines of the lower portion of the observatory tower can still be seen on the north side of , now, the Teachout-Price Building. Image courtesy Hiram College archives.
	Telescope Removed In February 1939 a fire seriously damaged the Teachout Library. Fortunately for astronomy, the Cooley Telescope was isolated enough from the main building that it escaped serious damage. The wood-framed, metal-skinned dome was removed and the telescope shipped off to Warner and Swasey for cleaning and checking. Photo courtesy Hiram College archives.
	Donor Makes new Observatory Possible On April 9,1939 came the announcement that Ella M. Stephens would donate funds for the construction of a new observatory facility to house the Cooley Telescope and support astronomy at Hiram College. The observatory was to be named in memory of Miss Stephens' family. The architect's initial rendering differs in several details from the building as it was finally realized. Image courtesy Hiram College archives.
	Telescope Back in Operation Prof. Elbert Howard Clarke using the telescope in the newly-built Stephens Memorial Observatory. Prof. Clarke, a mathmatics instructor (from 1917 - 1957), is seen looking through the finder telescope attached to the much larger Cooley Telescope in the observatory. Note how the brass finder has been polished to a lusterous finish. Brass fittings on the Cooley are also clean and bright, probably the result of their trip back to the Warner and Swasey telescope works in Cleveland following the library fire. This photo was taken from the 1941 edition of the Spider Web Hiram College yearbook. Image courtesy Hiram College archives.

Stephens Memorial Observatory Historical Gallery