The History of Robert Todd Lincoln's Telescope and Observatory

As a young man, Robert Lincoln became interested in mathematical computations and science, resulting in his interest in astronomy. He dreamed of having his own astral observatory where he could pursue this hobby. Like his father, Abraham Lincoln, the professional surveyor, Robert was familiar with the operation of a transit for land surveys. Soon after arriving at Hildene, he surveyed and selected a high point of land for his observatory. Within 80 yards, northeast of the house, it offered a clear and unobstructed celestial view. His calculations located the spot as 43 degrees, 8 minutes, and 30 seconds, North Latitude.

The observation dome was constructed on a concrete base, fourteen feet in diameter and six inches thick. On top of the walls, a rail in four sections was fabricated from iron, two-and-one-half inches wide. This was secured to wooden strips on the wall with large screws countersunk into the carefully planed rail.

The heavy, 12 foot dome is so well balanced that it can be easily rotated 360º by one person, using the metal bars attached to its base. Movement of the dome allows the two foot wide shutter to be precisely positioned. The original canvas-covered, wood dome was constructed by the Eagle Square Company in nearby Shaftsbury, Vermont, now a branch of Stanley Tools Company. The cost in June of 1908 was only $182.16 and it was transported to Hildene from Shaftsbury by horse-drawn wagon.

The original telescope soon proved to be inadequate for Mr. Lincoln's purposes, and he commissioned the building of a larger, six-inch refracting telescope by the Warner and Swasey Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The completed instrument, including the lens, ground by the John A. Brashear Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, cost $1,920.00. When it arrived at Hildene in the summer of 1909, several courses of brick had to be added to the observatory's walls to accommodate the larger instrument.

Two years after Mr. Lincoln's death in 1926, Mary Harlan Lincoln donated the telescope and the funds necessary to build a replica of Hildene's Observatory to Burr & Burton Seminary, the local secondary school. Hildene's empty observatory was then used as a smokehouse and a storage facility for several decades before falling into disrepair.

In 1984, Lila Acheson Wallace awarded Friends of Hildene, Inc. a challenge grant of $7,500.00 for the observatory's restoration, conditional on Hildene's raising an equivalent amount. The ensuing fund-raising campaign was co-chaired by Dr. and Mrs. Clifford Harwood of Manchester. Under their guidance and thanks to a leadership gift of $1,500.00 from the James Talcott fund, facilitated by Suzanne and William Melhado of Dorset, the goal was exceeded in less than a month.

Following the restoration of the observatory, the Trustees of Burr & Burton Seminary generously placed Mr. Lincoln's telescope on loan to Hildene. In 1992, they formally donated to Friends of Hildene, Inc., this historic instrument which now rests permanently in its first home. We are profoundly grateful to the Trustees of Burr & Burton Seminary for their generosity and for their 64 year stewardship of the telescope.

In the autumn of 2002, the telescope was refurbished on its original mount by Claudio Véliz Architect (CV A), a firm specializing in astronomical as well as traditional architecture projects. The telescope was cleaned, the brass polished, the mechanisms realigned and lubricated, and attachments were re-established so the telescope could be moved smoothly, if manually, through the sky (Hildene staff are currently searching for the original mechanical drive that, once installed, would allow the scope to track objects across the sky). CV A also directed expert subcontractors to attend to telescope element specialties: The optics were completely restored by D&G Optical, in Pennsylvania. The lens cover was made exactly to original specifications by Kate Connors of Cattlepress Leather. The resulting telescope is now fully functioning and available to enhance the public's enjoyment of the Vermont skies, amongst the darkest in the entire northeast United States.

February of 2003, the Hildene Astronomy Club was formed. Members of the club are now taking on the care and use of the telescope and observatory. Organized 'Star Parties' open the observatory to the public.