Elgin National Watch Company Observatory - Elgin, IL - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

In 1910, the Elgin National Watch Company designed and constructed this observatory near its factory to create a standard time for its watches.

The equipment within the observatory were all created to minimize the outside influences from disturbing the timekeeping instruments as well as the three-inch objective lens in the transit telescope.

Once the Elgin National Watch Company began to realize their business was floundering and a timekeeping observatory was obsolete, they turned the facility over to the Elgin School District for educational purposes in 1960.

To bring additional educational resources to the building, the Elgin School District added a planetarium to the rear in 1963.

The observatory was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

Street address: 312 Watch Street Elgin, IL USA 60120 County / Borough / Parish: Kane County Year listed: 1994 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Commerce, Science Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949 Historic function: Education, Research Facility Current function: Education, Research Facility Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.