Follow in the Steps of Albert Einstein
You can count your lucky stars, because University of Chicago’s famed Yerkes Observatory is just four miles from Geneva National, allowing visitors the opportunity to test their celestial vision and marvel at the Roman brick-and-terracotta building’s late 19th century architecture and mythological ornamentation. Founded in 1897, the astronomical observatory is home to the world’s largest refracting telescope, a 24-inch and 40-inch reflecting telescope and more than 170,000 photographic plates precisely detailing star locations. Known to this day for its research and popular for its educational tours, star parties and summer day camps, Yerkes also attracts building and landscape architects as well as photographers to its 77 acres designed by John Olmsted, whose brother was the landscape architect for New York’s Central Park. Visit the website for up-to-date tour times, special events and to make reservations for an observing session.