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Concept
Stellafane
Summary
The Stellafane Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Springfield, Vermont, founded in 1920 by Russell W. Porter. The Pink Clubhouse was built in 1923 at the site by the Springfield Telescope Makers Club. The name Stellafane, suggested by Porter at the club's December 1923 meeting, is derived from the Latin words stella and fanum meaning "Shrine to the Stars", and originally referred specifically to the clubhouse, but has since come to refer to all of the club's land and buildings on the summit of Breezy Hill, west of downtown Springfield.
The Stellafane Convention, a gathering of amateur telescope makers and amateur astronomers is the longest running astronomical convention in the United States, having been held nearly every year at the location since 1926. The clubhouse and observatory became listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and became a National Historic Landmark in 1989, in recognition of the club's pioneering role in the popularization of astronomy and the amateur construction of telescopes.
Russell Porter was born in Springfield in 1871, and in 1919, upon returning to the town, began constructing telescopes with the assistance of employees and equipment from the factories in Springfield. The Springfield Telescope Makers Club grew out of an instructional class on how to make telescopes that was started by Porter the following year, on 12 August 1920.
The members of this small group decided to build a clubhouse, and held their first meeting on 7 December 1923 on a plot belonging to Porter on the summit of Breezy Hill outside of town. The original 20 x clubhouse, with an 11 x ell added in 1926, included a meeting room, a kitchen, a workshop, and bunkrooms on the second floor. The building incorporated a polar Cassegrain telescope, a transit telescope (no longer functional), a solar telescope, and a sundial on the south wall.
Official source
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