Astronomy.
Architecture.
Arboretum.
Art.

Ancient navigators charted their course by them. Romantics pledge their love underneath them. Scientists unravel new secrets about them. Northwoods campers marvel at the sheer number of them. The stars have forever mystified, fascinated, and inspired us. For 127 years and counting, Yerkes Observatory has helped shape our understanding of the universe. And it is once again open for you to explore.

The story of Yerkes Observatory began on a household rooftop in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago in 1882. George Ellery Hale, a 14-year-old boy with an insatiable curiosity about science, installed his first telescope there. A decade later Hale and his father constructed a proper observatory with a 12-inch telescope next to their home. Hale’s ideas about astronomy, observatories, and architecture would culminate in the creation of Yerkes Observatory housing the world's largest refracting telescope and the 12-inch refractor from Hale’s youth.

Yerkes Observatory Staff, 1898

Yerkes’ latest chapter is as a beacon illuminating a path for current and future generations of scientists and artists to discover and interpret the universe. Plan a visit and prepare to be amazed like the astronomers and visitors since 1897.

Stroll the lush grounds designed by the Olmsted family who created Central Park, the U.S. Capitol grounds, and so much more. Take a tour through the Beaux Arts and Romanesque architectural masterpiece. Follow in the footsteps of astronomical greats like Edwin Hubble, Nancy Grace Roman, Gerard Kuiper, Mary Calvert, E.E. Barnard, Richard Kron, and Carl Sagan. Size up the Great Refractor telescope, all 63 feet and 12,000 pounds of it. It's so delicately balanced that we move it by hand.