Climax Observatory Photograph Collection

These photographs were taken by Walter Raymond Allen during the construction of the Climax Observatory. Allen worked for the Climax Molybdenum Company during the construction of the observatory. The Climax Observatory eventually became part of the High Altitude Observatory, which joined with NCAR in the 1960s.

Walter Orr Roberts, later first director of NCAR and president of UCAR, erected the Harvard College Observatory's coronagraph in 1940 at Fremont Pass, near the mining town of Climax, Colorado. Situated on the Continental Divide at an elevation of 11,500 feet, the location provided favorable conditions for studies of the solar corona due to reduced atmospheric scattering. The Climax Molybdenum Company donated the land for the Observatory, as well as funds for constructing buildings and a $6,000 grant. Roberts was the sole resident scientist at the isolated mountain Observatory, and he and his wife Janet remained the only residents in the early years.