Griffith Observatory!

What Is Griffith Observatory?

With up to 1.6 million folks passing through its doors each year, this is the most visited public observatory in the whole world!

What Makes Them Historical?

In 1882, Welsh-born mining speculator and real estate tycoon, Griffith J. Griffith, bought up the former Rancho Los Feliz in Los Angeles. Rather than ranch it on his own, he decided to donate 3,015 acres of it to give Los Angeles a “Great Park” like the ones he’d seen on a trip to Europe! Beyond his desire for rest and recreation opportunities for Angelenos, he wanted this park to house an observatory that was easier to access than the one on Mount Wilson!

So he gifted the City of Los Angeles $100,000 (almost $3 million today) to build an observatory that offered free access to telescopes, a Hall of Science for education about the cosmos, and a theater! Although Mr. Griffith died on July 6, 1919, he left behind a bequest funding the observatory and the nearby Greek Theatre.

Real planning didn’t actually begin until 1930 though. With a team of big names in astrophysics, like George Ellery Hale, Edward Kurth, and Russell W. Porter guiding the design, construction began on June 20, 1933 and concluded on May 14, 1935! They’d taken advantage of Depression-driven discounts to make the building earthquake resistant and add fineries like the Astronomers Monument in the front courtyard! Inside, they completed the third planetarium in the US alongside a Foucault Pendulum to demonstrate the Earth’s rotation, and a Tesla coil, which arrived here in 1937 from the collection of Dr. Frederick Finch Strong!

How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?

Volunteer at Griffith Observatory!
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Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!