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All the United States Oregon Lane County Dee Wright Observatory

Dee Wright Observatory

While it is not equipped to peer into outer space this observatory looks like it was built on the moon.

Lane County, Oregon

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Karitxa
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Dee Wright Observatory   Karitxa / Atlas Obscura User
Dee Wright Observatory   Karitxa / Atlas Obscura User
Dee Wright Observatory   Karitxa / Atlas Obscura User
Dee Wright Observatory   David Berry on Flickr
Dee Wright Observatory   Blake Handley on Flickr
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About

Looking more like a primitive lava rock castle than a scenic lookout, the Dee Wright Observatory offers lovely views of the surrounding peaks through a structure that seems to naturally rise up from the jagged stones around it.

Named after a foreman that died the year previous to the finishing of the structure, the observatory was built Civilian Conservation Corp during the Great Depression in 1935. Using the same rough lava rock that surrounds the entire site, it was placed specifically so that it could offer a view of each of the numerous peaks of the nearby Cascade range. The rocky shelter features a number of viewing windows, some of which were specifically aligned to capture views of specific peaks. Beneath each targeting window is the name of the peak which can be viewed from it.    

The upper level of the observatory also has a brass compass that points visitors towards each of the surrounding peaks once again naming them.

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Observatories Mountains Martian Landscapes Ecosystems

Community Contributors

Added By

Karitxa

Edited By

EricGrundhauser, juliemw80

  • EricGrundhauser
  • juliemw80

Published

July 8, 2014

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Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Wright_Observatory
  • http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/willamette/recarea/?recid=4403
Dee Wright Observatory
Old McKenzie Highway
Lane County, Oregon, 97413
United States
44.231763, -121.868022
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