"I own an observatory in the middle of the Mojave desert" said no one you have probably ever met. Yet, when we told my father that we were heading to Joshua Tree National Park, he told us about the observatory just north of there that his father bought him when he was studying astrophysics in university. After our looks of incredulity subsided, we searched for an hour until we could find it on the map and we made a point to visit. After our adventure in Joshua Tree, we turned north on the road to Rimrock, California. After the cute little "town" of Rimrock, the dirt road became questionable. Loose gravel and ruts that had the appearance of the Grand Canyon's beginnings made Carolyn grip her "oh shit" handle and armrest until her knuckles were paler than a ghost's toilet paper. To give you an idea of the kind of road we were on, it took us 45 minutes to drive 8 miles. Braving the 4x4 road in our minivan, we crested the top of a hill and saw our destination... still two miles away. Despite our trepidation, we pushed ahead and made it to the foot of the observatory's driveway. We parked a quarter of a mile away as the road was impassible from there in our vehicle. Hiking up the driveway among the Joshua Trees and Cholla cactus brought us to the cylindrical structure with a plaque on the side reading "Farrington Observatory built by William B Farrington" with no date or any other information. According to the Morongo Basin Historical Society, the observatory was built in the 1970s. They claim that the telescope was also built by Dr. Farrington with "lenses he had ground during off-duty hours while serving as a radio officer on a destroyer in the Atlantic during WWII." According to the Society, it is not known who owns it, but my family has held the papers since 1984. At one point this was a geocaching site, however, the cache has been removed. I can only imagine hosting a star-party out here, however next time, I would probably drive up in a Jeep. For now, we will leave the current "occupants" (mice, owls, and probably the occasional party-goer) undisturbed and keep the memories of this observatory with us for a lifetime.
8 Comments
6/25/2019 07:50:16 am
My father (Bill Farrington), my 2 brothers ( Ben and Kalyan) and I built the observatory in the 70's as a fun project. We didn't use the observatory (and small house) on the property much after it was finished. My Dad was friends with your grandfather Val Bollwerk and sold the property to him. I am glad to hear it is still in your family.
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Amy Farrington
6/25/2019 04:05:44 pm
Morongo Basin Historical Society (Spring/Summer 2017) had inquired why this site was selected. Phyllis mentioned:
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Amy Farrington
6/25/2019 04:26:01 pm
Oh, and thanks Carolyn and Will for this blog posting! :)
Susan Farrington
7/4/2019 03:49:23 pm
During 1977, '78, and '79, Ben and I had his friend from school living with us in Long Beach. He was very interested in astronomy and would plan out a whole weekend of night sky viewing for each season. He would set the telescope, then wake up whoever said they wanted to see that particular nebula or planet. We'd look in awe, taking turns going up and down the ladder.
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Ken
6/25/2020 12:34:09 pm
I just wanted to share the latest information that we know of as of June 25, 2020 since there is no mention I could find anywhere of its current status or disposition.
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Doug Thornburg
6/25/2020 07:53:30 pm
Only a year late, and another birthday for Kalyan. Finally going to take a stab at this.
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Doug athornburg
6/25/2020 11:40:32 pm
(Sorry, didn’t realize there was a word limit)
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Sandra
2/5/2021 03:05:15 am
Sometime in the late 70;s my mom met a gentlemen on the CB who lived at the observatory.He said he was the caretaker. He invited us up to visit late one night. After the long drive and then short walk up to the observatory He told us a little about it and then we walked up into it and was able to view saturn and all its rings and many other stars. Its was an awesome trip.
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April 2019
AuthorCarolyn and Will Bollwerk share their adventures with their 5 year-old daughter, Dylan. |