The story of Yerkes Observatory began on a household rooftop in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago in 1882. George Ellery Hale, a 14-year-old boy with an insatiable curiosity about science, installed his first telescope there. A decade later Hale and his father constructed a proper observatory with a 12-inch telescope next to their home.
Stroll the lush grounds designed by the Olmsted family who created Central Park, the U.S. Capitol grounds, and so much more. Take a tour through the Beaux Arts and Romanesque architectural masterpiece. Follow in the footsteps of astronomical greats like Edwin Hubble, Nancy Grace Roman, Gerard Kuiper, Mary Calvert, E.E. Barnard, Richard Kron, and Carl Sagan. Size up the Great Refractor telescope, all 63 feet and 12,000 pounds of it. It's so delicately balanced that we move it by hand.
