It stands a mile from the Capitol, in the city of Albany, upon the crest
of a hill, so difficult of approach, as to be in reality a Hill of
Science. There are two ways of getting to it. In both cases there are
rail fences to be clambered over, and long grass to wade through,
settlements to explore, and a clayey road to travel; but these are minor
troubles. The elevation of the hill above tide-water is, perhaps, 200
feet; its distance from the Capitol about a mile and a half. The view
for miles is unimpeded; and the Observatory is belted about with woods
and verdant lawns. There could not be a finer location or a purer air.
The plateau contains some fifteen acres.
The Observatory is constructed in the form of a Latin cross. Its eastern
arm is an apartment 22 by 24 feet, in which the meridian circle is to be
placed. The western arm is a room of the same dimensions, intended for
the transit instrument. From the north and south faces of both rooms
are semi-circular apsides, projecting 6 feet 6 inches, containing the
Collimator piers and the vertical openings for observation. The entire
length of each room is, therefore, 37 feet. In the northern arm are
placed the library, 23 feet by 27 feet; two computing rooms, 12 feet
by 23 feet each; side entrance halls, staircases, &c. The southern arm
contains the principal entrance, consisting of an arched colonnade of
four Tuscan columns, surrounded by a pediment. A broad flight of stone
steps leads to this colonnade; and through the entrance door beneath
it to the main central hall, 28 feet square, in which are placed (in
niches) the very beautiful electric clock and pendulum presented by
Erastus Corning, Esq. The center of this hall is occupied by a massive
pier of stone, 10 feet square, passing from the basement into the dome
above, and intended for the support of the great heliometer. Directly
opposite the entrance door is a large niche, in which it is proposed to
place the bust of the late Mr. Dudley. Immediately above this hall is
the equatorial room, a circular apartment, 22 feet 6 inches in diameter,
and 24 feet high, covered by a low conical roof, in which and in the
walls are the usual observing slits. The drum, or cylindrical portion,
of this room is divided into two parts--the lower one fixed, the upper,
revolving on cast-iron balls moving in grooved metal plates, can command
the entire horizon.
The building is in two stories--the upper of brick, with freestone
quoins, impost and window and door dressings, rests upon a rusticated
basement of freestone, six feet high. The style adopted is the modern
Italian, of which it is a very excellent specimen. The building has been
completed some time; but, in consequence of the size of the instruments
now procured being greater than that originally contemplated, sundry
alterations were required in the Transit and Meridian Circle rooms.
These consist of the semi-circular projections already mentioned, and
which, by varying the outlines of the building, will add greatly to its
beauty and picturesqueness.
The piers for the Meridian Circle and Transit have, after careful
investigation, been procured from the Lockport quarries. The great
density and uniformity of the structure of the stone, and the facility
with which such large masses as are required for this purpose can be
procured there, have induced the selection of these quarries. The stones
will weigh from six and a half to eight tons each.
The main building was erected from the drawings of Messrs. Woollett and
Ogden, Architects, Albany; the additions and the machinery have been
designed by Mr. W. Hodgins, Civil Engineer; and the latter is now being
constructed under his superintendence, in a very superior manner, at the
iron works of Messrs. Pruyn and Lansing, Albany.
The entire building is a tasteful and elegant structure, much superior
in architectural character to any other in America devoted to a similar
purpose.