Dominion of Canada Coat of Arms - Dominion Observatory - Ottawa, ON - Coats of Arms on Waymarking.com

This is a great example of a the Dominion of Canada's Coat of Arms located on the front facing of the Dominion of Canada Observatory in Ottawa's Central Experimental Farm, off Carling Avenue.

The observatory was built in 1905. The Coat of Arms, sculpted from red Nepean sandstone, is an early example of the Coat of Arms. The official version was not approved until 1922. Until then, various renditions had appeared on everything from buildings to coins. The term "Dominion of Canada" was formally dropped in 1982, with the patriation of the British North America Act of 1867.

From Wikipedia:

"This Romanesque Revival building was completed in 1905. Its main instrument was a 15-inch refracting telescope, the largest refracting telescope ever installed in Canada. While the building and institution were primarily dedicated to astronomical timekeeping in support of surveying, a number of other activities took place here. The Dominion Observatory was Canada's leading institution in Geophysics for many decades, which included the operation of Canada's national seismometer network. The facility did important work but with this bridgehead into the world of astronomy and the growth of the field of astrophysics Canadian astronomers quickly demanded a facility designed for the new scientific age. In 1917, the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory was opened in Victoria, B.C. and it supplanted the Dominion Observatory as Canada's foremost astronomical observatory. For many years the Dominion Observatory was best known to Canadians as the source of Canada's official time signal.
The observatory continued in operation until 1970 at which time Canada's science institutions were reorganized. The national time-keeping and astronomical activities were transferred to the National Research Council of Canada, while the geophysics, surveying and mapping were transferred to the Department of Energy Mines and Resources. The Geophysics work was later merged into the Geological Survey of Canada, now part of Natural Resources Canada. Astronomical timekeeping observations at the Dominion Observatory had ceased many years prior to this, when crystal oscillator clocks and later atomics clocks were found to be superior to astronomical timekeeping. The building became home to NRCan offices. The telescope had been open for public viewing from 1905 until 1970. In 1974, the telescope was moved from the Dominion Observatory to the Helen Sawyer Hogg Observatory at the Canada Science and Technology Museum where it remains to this day."

Bearer of Coat of Arms: Historic country Full name of the bearer: Dominion of Canada Where is Coat of Arms installed (short description) ?: Above the entrance to the former Dominion Observatory in Ottawa's Central Experimental Farm area. Material / Design: Stone Blazon (heraldic description): A Marie Usque Ad Mare Address: Maple Drive Ottawa, Ontario Web page about the structure where is Coat of Arms installed (if exists): [Web Link] Web page about the bearer of Coat of Arms (if exists): Not listed

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