From childhood, Hale was fascinated by astronomy; he was particularly interested in learning about the Sun and developed new instruments for photographing it. Following graduation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hale was accepted as a faculty member at the newly founded University of Chicago.
In 1890 Hale learned that the University of Southern California planned to build the world's largest telescope, using glass disks cast by Mantois of Paris and polished into 40-inch lenses by Alvan Clark and Sons in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts.
When the University of Southern California abandoned the project for lack of funding, Hale urged the University of Chicago to acquire the lenses and construct the telescope and an observatory. He and William Rainey Harper, president of the University, approached transit tycoon Charles Tyson Yerkes, who agreed to fund the facility.
Charles Tyson Yerkes,
and 
William Rainey Harper.
Hoisting
the polar axis for the 40-inch Refractor, 1896.
The
Observatory nears completion, October 1896.
Yerkes Observatory was completed and dedicated in 1897. It was built
in the shape of a cross, with two smaller domes for additional telescopes
at the end of each arm.
The building and its contents constitute a fascinating example of the architecture and technological accomplishments of the late 19th century. Pictures of some of the detailed architecture can be found on the page dedicated to such detail.
Many famous scientists have worked at Yerkes or with
collaborators here. This Observatory staff picture from 1914 includes
several notable astrophysicists, including Edwin Hubble, who got his
PhD while at Yerkes Observatory.
The Astrophysical Journal was founded at Yerkes by Hale and James Keeler in 1895, and it is even still an important journal in astrophysics -- as well as still published by the University of Chicago Press. For a nice article on the history of ApJ, see this article, by Donald Osterbrock.
This page concludes the section of the tour that most closely represents what you'd see if you came for a real tour. The advantage of this virtual tour, however, is that it can let you see a little behind the scenes! This Observatory has been a working research facility for more than 100 years.
You can learn about some of the science at Yerkes by checking
out the overview of famous research done at
Yerkes in the past, as well as an
overview of research being
done at Yerkes today.
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