The Greater Derby Chronicles:
University Of Pennsylvania In Upper Darby
March 14, 2018
Reese Wall Flower Observatory of the University of Pennsylvania
in Upper Darby in about 1897-1899.
The University of Pennsylvania was at one time of the largest land owners in Upper Darby Township. The area’s agricultural heritage and elevation were key ingredients that helped the Ivy League university operate one of the most prestigious observatories in the world from this Delaware County community.
The observatory was established because a long-time resident of the township, Mr. Reese Wall Flower, donated about half of his estate to the University upon his death. Mr. Flower was born in 1807, and he died in 1875.
Initially, the University of Pennsylvania was to receive almost all of his estate. According to a news article in Popular Astronomy in 1897, the value of the estate of Mr. Flower was in excess of “two hundred thousand dollars in value” in 1875.
The news article indicated that Mr. Flower never married, but that his legal heirs disagreed with the terms of his will. Through litigation, a compromise was reached between the heirs and the University in 1878; the final settlement, according to the University, occurred in 1881. The parties agreed to split the estate in half, with the University receiving about 100 acres of land in Upper Darby and other assets. Included in the settlement was a commitment by the University to build an observatory and endow a professorship.
The land that had been owned by Mr. Reese Wall Flower is detailed in this map
showing a portion of Upper Darby Township in 1875. The 108 acres (“108 a”)
that had been owned by Mr. Flower is seen in the center of the map (“R. W. Flower Est.”).
The land was located above the Philadelphia and West Chester Turnpike (today’s
West Chester Pike) and along Cobbs Creek. Mr. Flower called his property “The Roadside”.
The specific reason for Mr. Flower’s interest in astronomy is not certain, but according to the University of Pennsylvania, the great uncle of Mr. Flower, Mr. George Graham, had been an astronomer in London, England.
It appears that the first major use of funds from the bequest of Mr. Flower took place in 1892. Those initial funds were used to endow the first Flower Professor of Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania. To this day, that professorship still exists. Today the title is the Reese W. Flower Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
In his will, Mr. Flower advocated for the installation of an observatory in three potential locales, with Fairmount Park as the first choice and Chestnut Hill as the second choice. His will indicated that if either of those options were not feasible, the observatory was to be built on his farm in Upper Darby.
Upper Darby was described as a favorable location for an observatory by Professor Charles Leander Doolittle of the University of Pennsylvania. He described the area as “an agricultural region” with a high elevation and able to be reached within 30 minutes from the main campus of the University in West Philadelphia.
The construction of the observatory appears to have begun in 1895. Professor Doolittle stated that the construction began on the Reese Wall Flower Observatory with “funds for the undertaking being furnished from a source not made public.” Professor Doolittle became the Director of the Observatory in that year. He wrote that “an important part of ... [the] work [at the observatory] is the instruction of students in astronomy.”
The Reese Wall Flower Observatory, seen in the top photo, was dedicated in 1897. The house shown in this photo was the residence of the director of the observatory. According to the University of Pennsylvania, the observatory was initially “equipped with an 18 inch aperture Warner and Swasey refractor.” This telescope is known today as the historic Brashear refractor telescope.
One of the three buildings in Upper Darby, according to the University, was “devoted to precise positioning and time observations of stars.” The University indicated that this building “also contained several astronomical clocks, a prism transit, [and] a meridian circle.” The University indicated that a zenith telescope was also added to the observatory.
The exterior of the Reese Wall Flower Observatory in Upper Darby in about 1900.
The interior of the Reese Wall Flower Observatory in Upper Darby in 1904.
The land surrounding the observatory remained farmland for many years. Corn was one of the crops grown at the farm. Records at the University indicate that the farm was rented out to tenants for farming until 1904. In that year, the bulk of “The Roadside” – the Flower Farm – was sold and the funds added to the endowment created by the will of Mr. Flower.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer on May 23, 1905, the University of Pennsylvania sold the bulk of its land holdings in Upper Darby to Mr. David C. Folwell for $138,968.75.
The records of the University of Pennsylvania indicate that the University kept 5 acres of the farm for the observatory near what is today West Chester Pike and Saint Laurence Road. In 1905, the University purchased a piece of land of about 1.2 acres on what is today West Chester Pike. In 1919, the University purchased another small parcel of land. There evidently were also some minor adjustments to the property borders through the years.
Altogether, the Reese Wall Flower Observatory occupied about 7 acres of land in Upper Darby.
Dr. Samuel G. Barton, Director of the Reese Wall Flower Observatory
from 1920 to 1928, is seen here adjusting the telescope so that
he could attach a camera to take photos of a solar eclipse in 1925.
While in operation in Upper Darby, the Reese Wall Flower Observatory was known to be a great place to observe and learn about the stars and the skies. People from throughout the United States looked to Upper Darby for advice, information, and guidance on the science of astronomy.
According to History Of The Rittenhouse Astronomical Society 1888-1960, the headquarters of the American Meteor Society moved to the Reese Wall Flower Observatory and “from then on [the observatory] became the center of amateur, as well as considerable professional work on meteors, for the country.” Dr. Charles Pollard Oliver, who became Director of Reese Wall Flower Observatory in 1928, had founded the society at the University of Virginia in 1911.
On January 30, 1952, the Courier-Post of Camden, New Jersey, noted that residents from throughout the Delaware Valley could see a meteor shower “as bright as a full moon and looking like a honeydew melon” on January 29th. The newspaper quoted Dr. Oliver to describe the scientific aspects of the meteor shower.
The Indianapolis Star, in a news article dated July 27, 1952, explained to its readers that individuals at the Reese Wall Flower Observatory “can give you detailed information” about meteors.
Regular citizens helped keep track of meteors for the Reese Wall Flower Observatory.
An example was Mrs. Mary Frances Barney of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The Salisbury Times of Salisbury, Maryland, reported on August 13, 1953, that Mrs. Barney “counted 32 falling stars, including one large meteor that streaked across the heavens” between 2 AM and 3 AM on August 12th. The newspaper explained that Mrs. Barney did this count to send the information to the observatory in Upper Darby.
Dr. Charles Pollard Oliver became Director of the
Reese Wall Flower Observatory in 1928.
As Greater Derby and the surrounding area became developed with houses and commercial establishments, the attractiveness of Upper Darby as a site for an observatory diminished.
Part of the problem was that the Upper Darby site was no longer in “an agricultural region” as it was when the observatory opened in 1897. The urban lights were no longer just in the City of Philadelphia and select locales in the suburbs. The urban lights were now right next door, across the street, and throughout the region. These urban lights limited the work that could be accomplished at the Upper Darby location.
According to Observational Astronomy At The University of Pennsylvania 1751-2007, the University received offers from people wanting to buy the property in Upper Darby starting in 1922. The buyers were seeking to develop the property for housing. Other offers came in 1926 and in 1949. The University, according to this book, declined each of the offers.
A second observatory, this one in Lower Merion Township, was donated to the University of Pennsylvania in 1940. The donation occurred upon the death of Mr. Gustavus Wynne Cook, a noted astronomer. He had developed his Roslyn House Observatory in Wynnewood through the years.
The same problems with light were present at the Roslyn House Observatory in Wynnewood as in Upper Darby.
Dr. Oliver led the efforts at the University of Pennsylvania to combine the two observatories into one facility. As the Chairman of the Astronomy Department at the University, he sought to persuade the University to sell off the land in Upper Darby and purchase land in Chester County for a new facility.
Dr. Oliver was eventually successful in his goals to create a new observatory.
While land was purchased in Willistown Township in 1949, the decision to try to sell the property in Upper Darby was not officially made by the University until 1952, according to Observational Astronomy At The University of Pennsylvania 1751-2007. It was publicly reported that the property in Upper Darby was sold by the University to Effjay Corporation for $140,000.00 in 1954.
In 1956, a new observatory - the Flower and Cook Observatory – was opened on 35.4 acres that had been purchased on Providence Road near Warren Avenue in Willistown Township. Funds from the sale of the Reese Wall Flower Observatory property in Upper Darby helped with the construction costs for the new observatory. The Sandusky Register of Sandusky, Ohio, reported that officials from France and England joined with individuals from throughout the United States to be present at the official dedication of this new observatory in Chester County.
This new observatory, though, did not last as long as the Reese Wall Flower Observatory. Activities at the Flower and Cook Observatory diminished in the mid-1990’s. In 1996, the University sold 31.3 acres of the site. The Flower and Cook Observatory was closed by the University in 2004, and the remaining approximately 4 acres were sold.
The telescope was removed from the Reese Wall Flower Observatory
in Upper Darby in 1954.
The large telescope that was housed in the Reese Wall Flower Observatory for decades was placed in storage by the University of Pennsylvania in 1954. In the early 1960’s, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand jointly founded the Mount John Observatory on the South Island of New Zealand. The American astronomers wanted access to the skies in the Southern Hemisphere.
According to the University of Tasmania in Australia, as part of the joint efforts of the two universities, the University of Pennsylvania provided the 18 inch Brashear refractor telescope that had been installed in Upper Darby in 1897. The telescope was shipped to New Zealand. Rather than being installed at the Mount John Observatory, though, the telescope reportedly remained in storage for several more decades in New Zealand.
Astronomy Today reported on September 19, 2015, that the historic telescope had been transferred form the Mount John Observatory to Yaldhurst Museum located near Christchurch in 1990. It remained in storage at the museum until 2015; in that year, the telescope was transferred to Earth & Sky, an “astro-tourism” venture in Lake Tekapo on the South Island.
Less than two weeks ago, on February 25, 2018, The Timaru Herald reported that efforts are underway in New Zealand to restore the telescope that called Upper Darby home for decades. The Timaru Herald reported that a spokesperson for Earth & Sky said that a ceremonial blessing was to “led by representatives from Arowhenua, Moerkiand and Waihao runanga” on February 27th.
History that began in Upper Darby in the late 1800’s is continuing to have an impact in the 21st century thousands of miles away. Generations have benefited from what one man dreamed and what an Ivy League University developed at a farm in Greater Derby.
Lake Tekapo is located where the red pin is displayed on the
South Island in New Zealand.
Credits:
The top image was created by D. Luthrop and is provided courtesy
of the University of Pennsylvania, 1897-1899.
The map of Upper Darby Township is courtesy of the Library of Congress, 1875.
The exterior image of the Reese Wall Flower Observatory is provided
courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania, circa about 1900.
The interior image of the Reese Wall Flower Observatory was created by
Pierce and Jones and is provided courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania, 1904.
The photograph of Dr. Samuel G. Barton with the telescope appeared in the
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin on January 22, 1925. This photo is courtesy of the
George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Photographic Collection
of the Special Collections Research Center of Temple University Libraries.
The photograph of Dr. Charles Pollard Oliver is provided courtesy of Wikipedia, circa 1930.
The photograph of the telescope being removed from the Reese Wall Flower Observatory
appeared in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin on June 30, 1954. This photo is courtesy of the
George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Photographic Collection
of the Special Collections Research Center of Temple University Libraries.
The map of New Zealand is courtesy of Google, 2018.
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Contact Richard McDonough at greaterderbychronicles@gmail.com.
© 2018 Richard McDonough