Upper West Side Historical Photo Challenge No. 37

By Rob Garber for the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group

Welcome to another installment in the Rag’s Historical Photo Challenge. The image above was taken somewhere on the Upper West Side, sometime in the past. Can you figure out where, when, and what it shows? Look closely; this week’s challenge photo, like the others in the series, includes clues that will help you identify the scene, if you’re a dedicated UWS history sleuth. And even if you don’t recognize the picture—not to worry! Come back in two weeks and I’ll decode it, show you the clues that help identify it, and—best of all—tell you a story the image unlocks, because this column isn’t just a test of your neighborhood knowledge; it’s also a rolling celebration of the people, buildings and events that wove the tapestry of the Upper West Side.

Ready? If you think you know where and when the photo was taken and what it shows, post your answer as a comment on this column.

Solution to Historical Photo Challenge #36
Subject: Wilde Observatory
Location: Columbia University campus, east of Broadway at 120th Street
Date: early 20th century, probably 1907-1912 
Image Source: wikicu.com
Clues: If you recognized the domed round building as an observatory, your thoughts probably turned to Columbia—where else on the UWS was there likely to be an astronomical observatory? Then, notice the row of buildings beyond the fence. That’s the distinctive red brick façade of Teachers College, which still lines the north side of West 120th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

The rest of the story: When Mrs. Samuel Wilde of Montclair, N.J., donated her late husband’s telescope, with an impressive six-inch-diameter lens, to Barnard and followed it up in 1906 with a $2,000 bequest to build a structure to house the telescope, this modest-looking observatory was the result. According to the Barnard Bulletin, it was placed on Columbia’s campus rather than Barnard’s “to repay its debt to Columbia for the use of the library”! The observatory was built next to one of the oldest buildings on Columbia’s campus, a small square “transit house” that was used to observe the occasional passage (or “transit”) of a planet in front of the sun. The chairman of Columbia’s astronomy department acknowledged that the “street lights on Broadway … were annoying when the telescope was pointed in their direction.” Nonetheless, the Wilde Observatory was used to teach astronomy students for 20 years. In the late 1920s, massive Pupin Hall was built next door, with a telescope perched on Pupin’s 14th floor roof. Wilde Observatory was dismantled shortly after Pupin’s completion. The construction of Pupin and other buildings on the so-called Upper Campus resulted in the deaths of the beautiful chestnut trees that were the heart of The Grove, the name given to the uptown border of Columbia’s Morningside campus along 120th Street.

…and that’s the story behind the mystery image in the last challenge.  Now scroll back to the top of the column and take on your next one, Sherlockians!  If you’ve missed any pictures in this series, you can find the complete set on my author page.  All photos in the Upper West Side Historical Photo Challenges used with permission.

About the author:  Rob Garber has lived on the Upper West Side since the late 20th century and is a member of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group. To learn more, visit their website at upperwestsidehistory.org.

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