St. John Observatory

St. John Observatory, ca. 1895, from the Southeast. Photo credit: Trinity College Archives

The St. John Observatory was built on the Trinity College campus in late 1883, located 100 feet from the end of Seabury Hall. It housed astronomical equipment and was in active use for about 55 years, after which it was demolished.

In November 1882, Trinity became home to German scientists stationed by the German Imperial Commission to observe the Transit of Venus. The scientists constructed temporary buildings and brought 33 cases of equipment with them.

Following this event (and possibly out of embarrassment as Trinity did not have formal instruction in astronomy) the Board of Fellows and Trustees called for the creation of an Astronomy Department and raised funds to construct a small observatory and obtain equipment.

St. John Observatory in about 1885, with Transit of Venus marker visible at the rear. Photo Credit: Trinity College Archives

In 1883, Hartford surgeon Dr. Samuel St. John offered to donate books and astronomical equipment from his father's estate under the condition that they be mounted and a suitable building be provided for them. The equipment, which included a Fitz six-inch refracting telescope, a driving clock, chronograph, and transit instrument with three-inch aperture, “would enable…considerable astronomical work.” That year, Dr. Flavel Sweeten Luther, Class of 1870, became the Seabury Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, and advocated for the acceptance of the gifts and building of an observatory. He estimated a cost of $1,100 (about $3,070 today) to build a 16 x 16 foot building with a 10 x 8 foot wing, a 20 foot high revolving dome, a few pieces of equipment, and furniture. Luther stated that the building could be easily moved or adapted into a larger observatory in the future. ¹⁾

The Trustees accepted the gifts and conditions. In autumn of 1883, construction began on a small observatory at the spot where the German scientists had been stationed. A commemorative marker designated the location. The observatory was constructed in two stages: the main east wing containing the dome and transit wing were erected in late 1883, and some years later a room with a chimney was constructed for heat. The dozen or so books were cataloged and added to the Trinity library.

Luther continued to advocate for the observatory and in 1895, was approved to purchase “a permanent, six and one-half inch refracting telescope, equatorially mounted, with a clock drive and mount. The lens was made by Brashear and the scope itself by Warner and Swasey.” ²⁾ This telescope replaced the one donated by St. John, though the transit remained in use until 1928, when it was knocked from its piers and badly damaged.

The St. John Observatory was torn down in 1938.

The new Chemistry building, built in 1936, had been designed with a reinforced tower to potentially accommodate an observatory. Blueprints were drawn up of this domed tower, but it was not constructed. In 1947, the College began to inquire again about building the dome, but a letter from Warner & Swasey estimated a cost of $10,000 (about $144,000 today) to adapt the building's third floor, stating that “everything having to do with building construction in the postwar period is so excessive.” The company urged that the “observatory dome project be deferred as long as possible,” and likewise, the cost to construct a custom-size telescope to fit the tower would be astronomical. ³⁾

Another attempt to construct an observatory was made when plans for the new Life Sciences building were underway in the mid-1960s. The observatory would have been part of the new structure; however, this did not come to fruition either.

In 1977, student Robert Nero '80 took on the task of locating parts from and reconstructing Luther's Warner and Swasey telescope as part of Assistant Physics Professor Brooke Gregory's observational astronomy class: “Parts emerged from hiding places in the boiler room, under a stairwell, in a cubbyhole in McCook, the lens from a physics lab storeroom, and some never were found.” Nero even located 1895 drawings of a similar telescope from Warner and Swasey. When it was completed, the telescope stood 14 feet tall and weighed about 400 pounds thanks to its mainly cast iron parts.

Today, the only remnant of St. John Observatory is the Transit of Venus marker, which was moved from its original location in 1959 to a spot in front of Hallden Hall, to make way for the new Student Center. It is a large cube made of brick with a stone cap. If standing today, the observatory would be at the corner of Hamlin and Cook Halls.