{"nrhp_refnum":"08000275","name":"Smith Observatory and Dr. William R. Brooks House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"618-620 Castle St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Geneva","county":"Ontario County","state":"NY","lat":42.87268298750004,"lon":-76.99041802900746,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Science","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A pair of buildings at 618-620 Castle Street in Geneva, Ontario County, New York: a small frame astronomical observatory and a two-story brick Victorian house, both built in 1888 for astronomer William R. Brooks.","why_significant":"The observatory is a rare, remarkably intact and fully functioning mid-size private professional observatory, with its original 10-inch Warner & Swasey refractor and a full array of period instruments. It is tied to comet discoverer William R. Brooks, who found most of his comets there. The house is an intact late Victorian eclectic dwelling built for him.","narrative":"Built in 1888 on Castle Street in Geneva, New York, this pair of buildings consists of a small observatory and a brick house made for astronomer William R. Brooks. Nurseryman and philanthropist William Smith built them to bring Brooks, already known for discovering comets, from nearby Phelps. The observatory has a round two-story tower topped by an iron and steel dome that turns by hand, and it houses a 10-inch refracting telescope made by Warner & Swasey of Cleveland. A meridian transit telescope, sidereal pendulum clock, spectroscope, cameras, and Brooks's star charts and comet medals also survive. Brooks made most of his major discoveries here and later taught at Hobart and William Smith colleges. The house is a two-story brick dwelling with a jerkin-head roof and bracketed cornice. It was later divided into apartments by his daughter. Few historic observatories keep both their building and instruments so complete, which underlies the listing for science and architecture.","period_of_significance":"1888","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian eclectic (house); observatory classification stated as na","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"The observatory survives with its original instruments and interior largely intact; the house was divided into four apartments after 1921 and is currently multi-family residential.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.114666-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/08000275.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320536","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Observatory_and_Dr._William_R._Brooks_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7545253"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/ontario-county/smith-observatory-and-dr-william-r-brooks-house-08000275/"}