Elgin Observatory Documentary

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Elgin is a city full of historic landmarks. The Elgin name has been a legacy through many companies and products. The Elgin National Watch Company was at one time the biggest mass production of watches in the world, and was in business for about a hundred years. Time determination served as a huge part in the industry of watches. The Elgin National Watch Company Observatory was the site that determined the time based on the stars. The process itself taking a lot of time. Watching a star could determine exactly what time it was, with a little math and help of the US Naval Time book. The scientists at the observatory could determine the time to the hundredth of a second. The building also served as many other purposes throughout the years, including a program for students interested in the science of stars of which they built telescopes in the basement. The building also transmitted the time via radio technology across the world, and they even brought watches from the factory just blocks away to be timed at the observatory. Stamped “Timed by the stars at the Elgin Observatory” and sold to customers around the world. There was also a lab at the observatory, once used to test battery acid, which later followed with patents in the United States Patent Office that are marked with the Elgin Observatory. Though determining time ended in the 1950’s when the factory closed, the building was donated to Elgin School District U-46, and later added a planetarium to the rear of the building. In the 1950’s the Planetarium opened and has since seen over 1 million students pass through learning about the night sky and the solar system we live in. But today the Observatory sits with much of it’s original contents, still being preserved, and are shown at public shows that happen a few times a year at the planetarium. The Elgin National Watch Company Observatory is a museum of the times of magnificent discoveries. This documentary is meant to show you the wonders within the walls, the history that lays with every turn. This documentary was made for every person who remembers walking through the doors as a kid, seeing the night sky feet from their heads, watching the planets cross, and the many stars twinkling. For the many who walked down the streets of Elgin and saw the time on the clock, and heard the bell go off. Those who watched the historic factory fall to the ground. Though the Elgin National Watch Company closed, the observatory lives on, time lives on. We hope you enjoy the hard work that went into creating the Elgin Observatory Documentary.