New Magnetic Observatory at Sitka, Alaska

Abstract

The Sitka Magnetic Observatory was established by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in the year 1901, and was placed in operation on January 1, 1902. A seismological observatory was added in 1902. The buildings of the Observatory were constructed on a small plot of ground, reserved by the Government for this purpose, located about 150 yards outside the residential section of the town, which was then a small fishing village. Since the beginning of work on the Naval Air Base near Sitka in 1937, the town has rapidly increased in size to a present (1940) population of nearly 2,000. Early in 1938 it was recognized that the extension of private building construction, containing large amounts of magnetic materials, toward the Magnetic Observatory would soon render the observations worthless, and steps were initiated to move the Observatory to a more suitable location.