Watheroo Observatory

Values

The place is rare as an observatory in Western Australia.

The place is representative of an American Institution set up in Australia for the purpose of science investigation.

The place is associated with the Carnegie Institution, a scientific research institution, as it was established by the Institute in 1919 and subsequently used as an observatory until 1947.

Physical Description

Watheroo observatory is set back a hundred metres from Watheroo West Road (mostly gravel), with a Eucalyptus tree lined gravel drive at a diagonal direct from the road to the dwelling.

Watheroo Observatory comprises a group of buildings dominated by a double volume timber framed and weatherboard clad dwelling. The dominant building has a perimeter verandah at ground floor level, and a high-pitched gable roof into which a number of dormer windows have been inserted along both sides. Adjacent to the dwelling there are at least two weatherboard outbuildings, each with gable roofs. Approximately 100 metres to the north east of the dwelling there appears to be a smaller scale dwelling, also weatherboard, with a hipped corrugated iron roof.

History

Carnegie Institution states:

‘Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1902 as an organisation for scientific discovery. His intention was for the institution to be home to exceptional individuals—men and women with imagination and extraordinary dedication capable of working at the cutting edge of their fields. The Carnegie Institution’s has six Research Departments; Department of Embryology, Geophysical Laboratory, Department of Global Ecology, Department of Plant Biology, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, and the Observatories in Pasadena, California, and Las Campanas, Chile.’

Two years after the Carnegie Institution of Washington was formed in 1902, Louis Bauer, a scientist studying the Earth's magnetic field, was selected by the board of trustees to form the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM). Bauer was a man with big ambitions: he wanted to map the geomagnetic field of the entire Earth. Under his direction, "observers," as they were called, made worldwide expeditions to gather magnetic field data. They trekked through some of the remote regions of the planet. The department also commissioned a ship, the Carnegie, fashioned primarily of non-magnetic parts, to map the oceans' magnetic field. By 1929, DTM researchers had collected volumes of data that were used to correct navigational charts and quantify the mysterious temporal variations in the geomagnetic field. The work was completed, and the department turned its attention to other questions.



Watheroo Observatory was visited by the Crew of the Cranegie,

The Shire of Moora Municipal Inventory States:

‘Dr John A. Fleming was instrumental in choosing the site, away from ironstone deposits. This site was very sandy and the shortage of water created problems. The observatory, established by the Carnegie Institution, as a magnetic observatory to study sun spot activity in 1919. The Carnegie Institution of Washington was established by Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919) a Scottish born steel industrialist who established a number of foundations and endowments for education and research. The Carnegie Institute approached the French Government who had contracted custom built crawler tractors from the Citroen Car Company. Those vehicles did the first motorized crossing of the Sahara Desert. The French Government granted the Institute one of the tractors and it was used on this site until it burnt out in 1928.’

‘The Carnegie Institution carried out a program of observations in terrestrial magnetism and electricity and ionospheric research.’

‘In 1931, the Observatory Golf Club was established.’

‘In 1947 the Observatory was transferred as a gift to the Australian Commonwealth Government, and the Commonwealth Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics operated and maintained the observatory.’

‘By the late 1950’s the Department was having difficulty maintaining the Observatory as a residential establishment and considered moving the observatory to a metropolitan site, to benefit the staff, by way of closer contact with the scientific workers at the university and other establishments. In 1955, a site was selected at the Gnangara Pine Plantation, for magnetic observations and another at Mundaring Weir, for ionospheric and seismological observations. A site office was located at the Mundaring town. The Gnangara station was completed in 1956 and observations and recordings paralleled those of the Watheroo station recordings in July 1957 and the Gnangara Observatory took over magnetic observations on 31st January 1959 followed by Mundaring taking over the other activities on 18 march 1959.’

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity- Low
Authenticity- Moderate

Condition

Sound

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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