Lowell observatory5/18/2023 All this adds up to science as a major component of the foundation on which Flagstaff is built. Then there are Northern Arizona University and Coconino Community College, where research is combined with preparing tomorrow’s scientists, and the Flagstaff Festival of Science, the oldest continuously running free science festival in the western hemisphere. Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station in 1955 the Astrogeology Branch of the U.S. Additional research centers followed through the years: the country’s first forest research station, known today as the Fort Valley Experiment Station, in 1908 the Museum of Northern Arizona in 1928 the Atmospheric Research Station at today’s Northern Arizona University in 1952 the U.S. Four years after the observatory opened its doors, the first weather station in Flagstaff was established, run by Elizabeth Renoe, wife of future U.S. Lowell was the community’s first permanent scientific establishment and helped pave the way for other research organizations to come here to study the area’s rich array of natural resources. The intertwined development of Lowell alongside Flagstaff is evident in other ways. The names represent a who’s who of Flagstaff pioneers-Babbitts, Riordans, Brannens, and others-and the gesture triggered a long, mutually beneficial relationship between the community and observatory. When word got out that Flagstaff was the chosen location for the new observatory, 82 community members signed a letter pledging their support. Douglass decided to build the facility a half mile to the north of Site 11, where the slope up the mesa was gentler and thus more ideal to build a road upon. ![]() Site 11 proved the most suitable of all the places Douglass had tested in Flagstaff, as well as in Tombstone, Tucson, Tempe and Prescott. This was the 11 th site he had tested in Arizona, with a goal of finding an ideal location to build Lowell’s observatory. Ten years after Flagstaff’s founding, and only three years after Coconino County was established, Percival Lowell’s assistant, Andrew Douglass, climbed to the top of that same mesa on a cool day in April to observe the quality of the air for telescopic viewing. “Downtown” was later moved a mile to the east, where the flatter grade proved easier for outgoing trains trying to gather speed. It was here that the original town site of Flagstaff-established in 1884-was located. Both the city and the observatory trace their beginnings to the southeastern side of the mesa known today by locals as Mars Hill. ![]() ![]() ![]() Lowell has in many ways grown up alongside Flagstaff. In recognition of Lowell’s heritage of science, education, culture, and history, the observatory was designated a Registered National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 1965 and identified as an Arizona Treasure in 2005 by Governor Janet Napolitano included in 1999 by First Lady Hillary Clinton in her Save America’s Treasures program and named by Time magazine in 2011 as one of “The World’s 100 Most Important Places.” Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher has nicknamed Lowell Observatory “America’s Observatory” because of its “unique combination of astronomical history and famous discoveries”. Years later, in 2001, the International Dark-Sky Association named Flagstaff the world’s first International Dark Sky City because of this community’s ongoing commitment to protecting the quality of its dark skies. The observatory has also played a leading role in dark skies protection, with Lowell astronomers urging the Flagstaff City Council to create a lighting ordinance in 1958-the first in the world.
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