"I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream." – Vincent van Gogh
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Here in Lake County lies a rich and varied past with many layers of history.
In the not-too-distant past the Taylor Observatory, at 5725 Oak Hills Lane in Kelseyville, came into being.
With the abundance of clear, clean air that is normally found in our county, the decision to locate Taylor Observatory here more than 32 years ago was a no-brainer.
The observatory was the brain-child of a former Lake County educator and assistant superintendent of schools for our county's Office of Education named Robert Taylor.
Taylor moved to Lake County from Kingsburg, Calif., according to the Lake County Office of Education's Web page.
Taylor learned of a means to obtain the funding for the construction of the observatory in the 1970s.
Since there was plenty of room on the property on which Kelseyville Elementary School was housed, the project to build our county's amazing observatory commenced, with a fabulous planetarium added on to the facility in 1985.
When Taylor moved out of Lake County we were fortunate to retain the services of his capable assistant, Evelyn Norton.
During Norton's time at the observatory she taught astronomy and wowed students and the public alike with her telescope lessons and rich planetarium features.
Norton ran the show there at the observatory until she retired in 2004. In that same year the observatory underwent extensive renovations via the hard-working Kelseyville Rotary Club, Ukiah Astronomical Society and also the Amateur Astronomers from our own county.
Taylor Observatory's planetarium took the moniker "Norton Planetarium" when she died in 2005 as a way of honoring all of her years of service to our community and its school children.
As a fourth grade teacher for 24 years, I was lucky enough to enrich the lives of my little charges with trips to the observatory, where they soaked up the universe via the facility's 36-seat classroom, the large planetarium’s amazing shows and the fabulous 16-inch telescope which is housed under an opening dome in the ceiling.
During some of that time I was also fortunate enough to present programs for the public on NASA's various space flights when I was one of NASA and JPL's "Solar System Ambassadors."
Visit the Taylor Observatory, or Taylor Observatory's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/friendsoftaylorobservatory/.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also formerly wrote for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.
Lake County Time Capsule: The history of Taylor Observatory
- Kathleen Scavone
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