Chiefland Astronomy

A Legacy of Precision, Pedagogy, and Preservation

The 10-inch refractor at Haverford College, installed in 1884, was one of only four telescopes of that size ever made by the legendary American firm Alvan Clark & Sons. But the story of astronomy at Haverford begins nearly half a century earlier.

In 1839, John Gummere, a founding professor, proposed Haverford’s first observatory, a small wooden structure housing only a transit instrument, an astronomical clock, a portable telescope, and a sextant. Though modest, this “little box” marked the beginning of observational astronomy at the college.

In the early 1850s, mathematics professor Hugh Vail began a push to create a serious astronomical facility. He arranged for the loan of an astronomical transit and, with permission from the college’s managers, began laying the groundwork for a proper observatory. Vail noted this was “the initial move toward getting a real observatory.” A fundraising campaign was launched to acquire a larger equatorial telescope. By 1853, Haverford had constructed the Strawbridge Observatory, equipped with a suite of new instruments, including:

• An 8¼-inch equatorial refractor by Henry Fitz, with an 11-foot focal length and magnifications ranging from 60x to 900x
• A Meridian Transit Circle by William J. Young
• An 18-inch Prime Vertical transit instrument by Dollond
• A sidereal clock and Bond’s innovative spring governor.

The Fitz refractor alone cost $1,950 (roughly $68,000 today), and the observatory quickly became one of the best appointed among American colleges.

By the early 1880s, however, the Fitz telescope was becoming outdated. In April 1883, under the leadership of Isaac Sharpless, professor of astronomy (and later president of Haverford), the college launched a campaign to acquire a modern 10-inch telescope. Within six months, Sharpless had raised $4,075 (approx. $143,000 today) through private donations, and the Board of Managers approved the purchase.

A formal contract was signed with Alvan Clark & Sons of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, promising a first-class instrument by November 1, 1883. The contract read:

To house the new telescope, the college constructed an additional building adjoining the 1853 observatory, connected by a covered passage. This new dome cost $2,332.69, bringing the combined telescope and building cost to over $6,600 (~$232,600 today). Additional accessories included:

• A spectroscope by Grubb of Dublin: $370.
• A helioscope by Merz of Munich: $50
• Eyepieces, observing chairs, and miscellaneous items: $50

The Clark telescope was delivered and installed in 1884. With its equatorial mount, graduated circles, and clock drive, it was a state-of-the-art instrument, and quickly became the centerpiece of Haverford’s astronomy program.Among its early users was Francis Preserved Leavenworth (1858–1928), a rising astronomer who joined Haverford in 1887 as Director of the Observatory. Using the Clark, he carried out precise micrometric double star measurements, which he published in Haverford College Studies (1889). This work contributed to national efforts to catalog binary star systems and underscored the telescope’s role in advancing science.

The telescope was also central to hands-on education. Sharpless emphasized experiential learning, and his textbook Astronomy for Schools and General Readers (1882) reflected the instructional value of direct observation. Generations of students studied the sky using the Clark, gaining practical experience in celestial mechanics and optics.

In 1930, after nearly fifty years of service, the telescope was reconditioned by J.W. Fecker, a specialist in telescope restoration. Fecker replaced the original steel tube with a rolled aluminum tube, reducing the instrument’s weight, and refurbished the mount and drive systems.The Clark remained in the dome at Strawbridge Observatory until 1999. After more than a century of continuous use, it was finally retired due to tracking failures and lens aberrations. As Haverford professor Steve Boughn explained, restoring the aging instrument would have cost tens of thousands of dollars. Instead, the college acquired a modern 16-inch Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector. The Clark refractor was sold to Jan Sugalski, a Florida-based optical engineer and amateur astronomer, with plans to restore it. “I hate seeing an important part of the College’s history go,” said Professor Bruce Partridge, “but we had to do it for financial reasons.”

Sugalski’s plan never came to fruition, but the telescope was not discarded. After years of dormancy, the 10-inch Clark refractor has found a new home at the Chiefland Astronomy Heritage Museum, where it will be carefully restored. Plans are underway to house the Clark in a dedicated dome, making it once again operational and accessible to students, visitors, and the public. In preserving this remarkable instrument and bringing it back to see starlight, we honor both its scientific legacy and its lasting contribution to astronomical education.