The 40-inch refracting telescope inside Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wisconsin, circa 1910
- Subject
- Interiors
- Card type
- Lithograph
About this postcard
The picture shows the great 40-inch refracting telescope inside the dome of Yerkes Observatory, its long tube tilted upward toward the open shutter, with a crowd of visitors lined up along the railing behind it. The caption names the site as the interior of Yerkes Observatory at Williams Bay on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Completed in 1897 for the University of Chicago under astronomer George Ellery Hale, Yerkes housed the largest refracting telescope ever put into service, a 40-inch lens built by Alvan Clark & Sons; the observatory remains a landmark of American astronomy on the shore of Lake Geneva.
Postcard Details
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Postcard record
| Publisher | V. O. Hammon Publishing Co. |
|---|---|
| Series | 1739. |
| Condition | Very good |
| Place depicted | Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, WI |
| Publisher | V. O. Hammon Publishing Co., Chicago, IL |
| Notes | Colour-printed card with no white border; light edge and corner wear, small scuffs at the margins. No postmark. Divided-back V. O. Hammon Pub. Co., Chicago "POST CARD" (1 CENT DOMESTIC / 2 CENTS FOREIGN stamp box), c. 1910s; series 1739. Cream stock with scattered foxing/staining; faint pencil squiggle at top center; no message or address written. |
Cite this card
The 40-inch refracting telescope inside Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wisconsin, circa 1910, postcard, c. 1907. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/the-40-inch-refracting-telescope-inside-yerkes-observatory-w. Accessed November 3, 2026.