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John Payson Williston Observatory

1881 establishments in MassachusettsAmerican astronomical observatory stubsAstronomical observatories in MassachusettsBuildings and structures in South Hadley, MassachusettsMount Holyoke College
Peabody and Stearns buildings
John Payson Williston Observatory, Mount Holyoke College, ca. 1945 1955
John Payson Williston Observatory, Mount Holyoke College, ca. 1945 1955

The John Payson Williston Observatory is an astronomical observatory located at the highest point on the Mount Holyoke College campus. Constructed in 1881, the observatory is a modest building with a 24-inch Ritchey-Chretien reflector optical telescope. It is maintained and operated by the Mount Holyoke College Astronomy Department.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article John Payson Williston Observatory (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

John Payson Williston Observatory
Jewett Lane,

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N 42.256027777778 ° E -72.577583333333 °
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Williston Observatory (John Payson Williston Observatory)

Jewett Lane
01075
Massachusetts, United States
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John Payson Williston Observatory, Mount Holyoke College, ca. 1945 1955
John Payson Williston Observatory, Mount Holyoke College, ca. 1945 1955
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Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts historically women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States.The college was founded in 1837 as the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary by Mary Lyon, a pioneer in education for women. A model upon which many other women's colleges were patterned, it is the oldest institution within the Seven Sisters schools, an alliance of East Coast liberal arts colleges that was originally created to provide women with education equivalent to that provided in the then men-only Ivy League. Mount Holyoke is part of the region's Five College Consortium, along with Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst: through this membership, students are allowed to take courses at any other member institution. Undergraduate admissions are restricted to female, transgender, and nonbinary students. In 2014, it became the first member of the Seven Sisters to introduce an admissions policy that was inclusive to transgender students. However, all graduate programs are open to applicants regardless of gender. Unlike the open curriculums of the other liberal arts schools in the Five College Consortium, Mount Holyoke undergraduates are required to take at least one class each in the humanities, science or mathematics, social sciences, and foreign language, as well as a physical education requirement. The college's 800-acre (3.2 km2) campus includes the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, the John Payson Williston Observatory, and a botanic garden, and awards the Glascock Prize annually. Alumni and affiliates include notable poets, authors, feminists, academics, entertainers, scientists, politicians, and civil rights activists, as well as recipients of the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Olympic Gold Medal, Rhodes Scholarship, Emmy Award, Golden Globe, and Academy Award.

Woodbridge Street Historic District
Woodbridge Street Historic District

The Woodbridge Street Historic District is a predominantly residential historic district in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It extends from the junction of Woodbridge Street and Silver Street north roughly to Woodbridge Terrace. This area was one of the first to be settled in South Hadley, and includes its oldest buildings, which date to the 1720s. It also has the community's highest concentration of high-quality 18th-century residential architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.The area that is now South Hadley was originally common land held by the citizens of Hadley. This status ended with a division of land among the taxpayers in 1720, with settlement following soon afterward. Woodbridge Street was then the principal road between Hadley and Amherst, and was where a number of new homes were erected in the following years. One of the district's oldest surviving structures, now the rear ell of 82 Woodbridge Street, was built by Joseph White in 1727. The area remained agricultural into the 20th century, and benefited from the early preservation efforts of philanthropist Joseph Allen Skinner, who funded the restoration of a number of its houses in the early 20th century.The district includes properties from 25 through 82 Woodbridge Street, and at 3 and 7 Silver Street. The majority of buildings in the district are houses that were built in the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the more notable properties is the Skinner Museum of nearby Mount Holyoke College, which is located in the former Prescott, Massachusetts congregational church. The 19th century Greek Revival church was relocated here Joseph Skinner in the 1930s when the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir necessitated the unincorporation of the small town.