It
is little known that the observatory in Gaithersburg had a
predecessor. It was in the town of Rockville, Maryland, in
the back yard garden of the home of Edwin Smith.
Smith, born in New York in 1851, was self-taught
in his field of astronomy and geodesy and his aptitude for
this subject enabled him to work with the United States Coast
and Geodetic Survey at the young age of 19. By 1879, he had
been promoted to Chief of the Instrument Division at the Capitol
Hill headquarters for the Coast and Geodetic Survey. It was
at this time, that his superintendent, responding to a request
from the International Geodetic Association for cooperation
in international research on variations of latitude, charged
him with establishing an observatory and making the necessary
observations.
As luck would have it, Smith had the perfect
location in his back yard garden. The small building he constructed
had a big role, it actually was the Coast and Geodetic Survey's
first astronomical observatory for the study of the variations
in latitude.
From all reports, Smith did his observations in a willing
manner in addition to his regular work during the day. He
observed the stars each night (except when the sky was overcast)
from June 13, 1891 until July 9, 1892. During the year of
observation, Smith made 1800 individual measures for latitude
on 146 nights, many in the bitter cold. His primary career
forced him to give up this voluntary activity and the observatory
was never used again.
"Seven years later they found what
they thought to be a perfect spot. . ."
In 1899, the United States Coast and Geodetic
Survey looked for a suitable site which had to have "good
averages of clear nights, to have the character of the country
the same on the north as on the south of each station, and
to have good seismological, hygienic, and social conditions"
. They found what they thought to be a perfect spot on the
northern corner of Mr. I. T. Fulks farm in Gaithersburg and
leased 2.3 acres for 99 years. Mr. Smith was again put in
charge of building another observatory.
In his first report on the observatory in
1900, Smith describes the site as "on a summit about
540 feet above tide water. It is some 15,000 feet northwest
of the site originally selected, and, though a few feet lower,
is in every other respect a better location".
Mr. Smith had been directed
to build the observatory according to specs from the Central
Bureau of the International Geodetic Association. It was to
be of iron as were those stations in Japan and Italy. Due
to budget constraints for the American participants in this
international endeavor, Smith adapted the plans for the building
designing a double walled system and made it of wood. This
plan served as the model for both Cincinnati, Ohio, station
and the Ukiah, California, station.
The building was constructed in a very
short time (the story is in just ten days!) and with the assistance
of Mr. John E. McGrath, and special instruments, both of the
Coast and Geodetic Survey, Mr. Smith documented his very first
observations to establish longitude. A month later, the instruments
to determine latitude arrived and by October regular observations
began.
Smith continued the observations in Gaithersburg
and sometimes failed to get home at night. A phone was installed
to keep him in touch with his family who lived in Rockville.
"He had a little cottage in Gaithersburg by the observatory,"
Smith's daughter Lucy recalls. "It had a wood stove and
was nice and cozy during the winter. There were two little
rooms with bunk beds. We kids would go up there two at a time
with our mother." Miss Lucy had fond recollections of
the nights they spent in Gaithersburg. "Dad would let
us look through the telescope when he wasn't busy. We loved
to gaze at the moon. It looked like a beautiful piece of embroidery".
These nightly observations earned Smith
the title "Mr. Astronomer Smith" to distinguish
him from another Mr. Smith in Rockville. The Smiths often
entertained in their Rockville home and the observatory was
quite an attraction. Sometimes, they would hire a horse-drawn
bus and take their guests there to gaze at the stars.
Over time the appearance of the associated
buildings changed.
Gaithersburg worked closely with the other
observatories until 1914. Economic constraints in the U.S.,
due to the influences of World War I, forced the closing of
Gaithersburg, and also of Cincinnati. Gaithersburg reopened
in 1932, but Cincinnati did not. So the remaining five observatories
continued their observations until 1982 when computerization
rendered the use of the manual observations obsolete. However,
the ground and azimuth markers at Gaithersburg are still used
by NOAA to this day. The scientists come periodically to verify
information that is used to correlate with the satellites
that have replaced the older small latitude observatories.
The observatory fell into disrepair, but
due to the City of Gaithersburg's efforts, was eventually
deeded to the City for protection under the Federal Government
Historic Monument Program and restored. It is now a National
Historic Landmark.
