Lick Observatory in California in 1902

Lick Observatory, Mt. Hamilton, California, 1902. The world’s first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory.

Mount Hamilton site remains a viable location for a major working observatory.  The little town of atop the mountain has its own police and a post office, and until recently a one-room schoolhouse.  By 2013, with continuing budget and staff cuts there remain only about nineteen residents and it is common for the observers to work from remote observing stations rather than make the drive, partly as a result of the business office raising the cost to stay in the dorms, the swimming pool has been removed.  In 2013, one of Lick Observatory’s key funding sources was scheduled for elimination in 2018, which many worried would result in the closing of the entire observatory.

In November 2014, the University of California announced its intention to continue support of Lick Observatory.

WIKI: Lick Observatory
Web site: Lick Observatory


Thanks to Pink for finding this since Lick Observatory has an important history in Astronomy and it's cool to see it back in its early days.


Note:  Baby Boomers aren't guilty on figuring out how to colorize historical pictures but a whole lot of Boomers carried it past that beginning and uncolorized historical pictures are now rare.  In the Rockhouse view, colorization is a gross insult to the history and it's not even close to accurate.  That picture shows a blue California sky, right?  Where is it ...