Current:Home > NewsMichigan State University workers stumble across buried, 142-year-old campus observatory-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Michigan State University workers stumble across buried, 142-year-old campus observatory
View Date:2024-12-23 16:59:27
EAST LANSING, MI — What began as a simple hammock installation led Michigan State University workers to uncover a more-than-century-old part of the university's history.
Employees with the school's Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Department were digging holes close to student residence halls near West Circle Drive in June when they encountered a "hard, impenetrable surface under the ground," MSU said in a release Wednesday.
Workers initially thought they had uncovered a large rock or old building foundation. Workers contacted MSU's Campus Archaeology Program, and staff referred back to old maps to determine what workers had dug to was the foundation of the university's first observatory which was constructed in 1881.
Historic Lahaina suffers in wildfires:Historic Maria Lanakila Catholic Church still stands after fires in Lahaina, Maui
The observatory was built by then-professor Rolla Carpenter and is located behind the current-day Wills House. Carpenter graduated from Michigan State Agricultural College in 1873 and taught math, astronomy, French and civil engineering, according to the release. It was built in 1927 for the U.S. Weather Bureau but donated to the university in the 1940s and named after H. Merrill Wills, the U.S. Weather Bureau meteorologist who lived there, according to MSU's website.
The Wills House once held MSU's meteorology department, but extensive renovations of more than $970,000 were undertaken beginning in 2015. Plans for the building included office space for several MSU officials.
Ben Akey, a university archaeology and anthropology doctoral student, said in the release the discovery gave a look into what the campus looked like then.
“In the early days of MSU’s astronomy program, Carpenter would take students to the roof of College Hall and have them observe from there, but he didn’t find it a sufficient solution for getting students experience in astronomical observation,” Akey said. “When MSU acquired a telescope, Carpenter successfully argued for funding for a place to mount it: the first campus observatory.”
Akey said the observatory was for just a handful of professors and a small student population when the university was called Michigan Agricultural College and the university's archives and Horace Smith's "Stars Over the Red Cedar" book were used to confirm the discovery.
“The campus archaeology program is designed to protect and mitigate our below ground heritage here at MSU,” Stacey Camp, director of CAP and associate professor of anthropology at MSU, said in the release. “We collaborate with IPF on construction projects and we are involved in preplanning stages to ensure that if they potentially hit an archaeological site, we can protect it in some manner.”
Titanic wreckage:Where is the Titanic wreckage? Here's where the ship is located and how deep it is.
MSU's current observatory is located at the intersection of Forest and College roads.
MSU spokesperson Alex Tekip did not immediately know how MSU planned to proceed but said a ground penetrating radar would be used at the site on Aug. 9 to learn more.
Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at 517-267-1344 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @KrystalRNurse.
veryGood! (9731)
Related
- Isiah Pacheco injury updates: When will Chiefs RB return?
- Increasing wind and heat plus risk of thunderstorms expected in fight against California wildfire
- Jury reaches split verdict in baby abandonment case involving Dennis Eckersley’s daughter
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Floor Routine
- Kyle Richards Swears This Holiday Candle Is the Best Scent Ever and She Uses It All Year
- USA Basketball's Steve Kerr, assistants enjoying master’s class in coaching
- Ground cinnamon products added to FDA health alert, now 16 with elevated levels of lead
- Billie Eilish and Charli XCX Dance on Pile of Underwear in NSFW Guess Music Video
- NCT DREAM enters the 'DREAMSCAPE': Members on new album, its concept and songwriting
- New sports streaming service sets price at $42.99/month: What you can (and can't) get with Venu Sports
Ranking
- LSU leads college football Week 11 Misery Index after College Football Playoff hopes go bust
- What are maternity homes? Their legacy is checkered
- New York politician convicted of corruption to be stripped of pension in first use of forfeiture law
- Italian boxer expresses regret for not shaking Imane Khelif's hand after their Olympic bout
- QTM Community Introduce
- U.S. employers likely added 175,000 jobs in July as labor market cools gradually
- CD match, raise, or 9% APY! Promos heat up before Fed rate cut. Hurry to get the best rate
- Olympic golf desperately needs a team format. Here's a proposal.
Recommendation
-
Justine Bateman feels like she can breathe again in 'new era' after Trump win
-
Vermont mountain communities at a standstill after more historic flooding
-
Imane Khelif, ensnared in Olympic boxing controversy, had to hide soccer training
-
Skunks are driving a rabies spike in Minnesota, report says
-
Kirk Herbstreit berates LSU fans throwing trash vs Alabama: 'Enough is enough, clowns'
-
Florida attorney pleads guilty to trying to detonate explosives near Chinese embassy in Washington
-
Lululemon's 'We Made Too Much' Section is on Fire Right Now: Score a $228 Jacket for $99 & More
-
Horoscopes Today, August 2, 2024