Ukiah, CA Latitude Observatory, 1900

The Ukiah International Latitude Observatory is one of the six observatories in the world established in 1899 by the International Geodetic Association. These were widely distributed in longitude but all situated on the same parallel of latitude (39° 08'). The purpose was to record the wobble of the poles and resultant shift in the equator and changes in latitude. The observatories worked in concert with each other for several decades on this project.

The Ukiah Observatory is referred to in the original Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for California first published in 1939. It was simply described as being open in the daytime and was located "near US 101 (R) at the end of town".

Frank Schlesinger was the first special observer assigned to the Ukiah Observatory and in 1900, at the end of the first year of the research, he corroborated with Edwin Smith, the special observer at Gaithersburg, to prepare a report on their work. Schlesinger's contribution to the report concentrated on the background of the research: Euler's Theory, the earlier research that preceded the establishment of the observatories, and Chandler's Law. He also described the work of the International Geodetic Association and how the six observatories were selected.

Ukiah Latitude Observatory with observer's house 1907

He summarized his portion of the report by stating that the purpose of the research was to "obtain the most accurate results for the variation of latitude solely" and not to try to use the results to deduce the "value of the constant of aberration". Unfortunately, Schlesinger did not include any description of the Ukiah Station. The other half of the report continued with Edwin Smith's detailed description of the observatory in Gaithersburg.

The chart taken from the Mizusawa report of 1980 confirms that Ukiah continued uninterrupted observations from 1899 to 1980. Enlarge

The land upon which the observatory and caretaker's house is situated has been deeded to Ukiah by the Department of the Interior as part of the "Public Lands to Park" progam. The plans for the park, which will be of a passive nature with no playground equipment, include the continued use of the caretaker's house and the provision of walking areas.

The park is currently located in a residential area of Ukiah, which is a town of about 15,000 people. While the observatory itself is in extreme decay, interest is awakening to the potential of restoration.