Talk:Ladd Observatory

National Register of Historic Places Low‑importance

	National Register of Historic Places portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject National Register of Historic Places, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of U.S. historic sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.National Register of Historic PlacesWikipedia:WikiProject National Register of Historic PlacesTemplate:WikiProject National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

United States: Rhode Island Low‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	Rhode Island portal This article is supported by WikiProject Rhode Island (assessed as Low-importance).

Astronomy Low‑importance

	Astronomy portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Astronomy, which collaborates on articles related to Astronomy on Wikipedia.AstronomyWikipedia:WikiProject AstronomyTemplate:WikiProject AstronomyAstronomy articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

History of Science Low‑importance

	History of science portal This article is part of the History of Science WikiProject, an attempt to improve and organize the history of science content on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion. You can also help with the History of Science Collaboration of the Month.History of ScienceWikipedia:WikiProject History of ScienceTemplate:WikiProject History of Sciencehistory of science articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Time Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Time, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Time on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.TimeWikipedia:WikiProject TimeTemplate:WikiProject TimeTime articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

national register infobox

infobox

{{Infobox nrhp
  | name = Ladd Observatory
  | nrhp_type = 
  | image = 
  | caption = 
  | location = [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]], [[Rhode Island]], [[United States|USA]]
  | locmapin = Rhode Island
  | nearest_city = 
  | coordinates = {{coord|41|50|20|N|71|23|57|W|display=inline,title}}
  | area =
  | built = [[1891]]
  | architect = [[Stone, Carpenter, and Willson]]
  | architecture = Classical Revival
  | added = [[June 6]], [[2000]]
  | visitation_num = 
  | visitation_year = 
  | refnum = 93000583
  | mpsub = 
  | governing_body = 
}}

The article is too short for a second infobox, and half of the information is already in the observatory box. I'll place the info here for possible future use.--mikeu 12:06, 10 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I went ahead and put it in. I shrank the observatory infobox as much as possible to keep page length down. --Dudemanfellabra (talk) 05:03, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Now is there anyway to shrink the NRHP box? Really, that map is way to big and contains very little information. The map overwhelms the image of the observatory. The facility has been an astronomical observatory for over a century and has been on the regsiter for less than a decade. The observatory infobox is arguably more important to highlight given that is the main function of the building. --mikeu ^talk 05:38, 13 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I added some more info to the observatory infobox, and also moved the image from the NRHP box to there. Now the observatory is clearly the primary focus (ha!) but the NRHP still looks big. I experimented with the map_width parameter to shrink the map, but the RI map is so tall, it doesn't help much. DMacks (talk) 06:35, 13 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, that is much improved. These info boxes are a bit large for a stub article. I guess the thing to do is expand the page ;) I had the same trouble trying to rescale the NRHP box myself. --mikeu ^talk 22:36, 13 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Time signal

I remember reading in the Projo a decade or two ago that Ladd used to send a time signal to the Providence Fire Department - every day at noon, or something like that. When the director at the time asked if they still needed it, the response was "what time signal?" It turned out that the wire wasn't even connected anymore.

Anyone remember this story well enough to track it down? Google News failed me. :-( --SarekOfVulcan (talk) 19:59, 22 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

~~I can find several sources that it used to send out time signals (and to groups other than PFD), but not the disconnection story:( DMacks (talk) 20:14, 22 July 2009 (UTC)~~[reply]

The cited Encyclopedia Brunoniana ref states "From 1893 to 1973 Ladd Observatory provided time signals, [...] discontinuing the practice only when it was observed that no one was receiving them." ProJo's online archive search only seems to go back to 1983:( DMacks (talk) 20:23, 22 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I just added a paragraph about this. --SarekOfVulcan (talk) 21:21, 22 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, the observatory sent time signals via telegraph through the ~~R.I. Protective Electric~~ Rhode Island Electric Protective company. I'll locate some references for this. --mikeu ^talk 05:40, 13 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The reference to Rhode Island Electric Protective (RIEP) is: William Greer, A History of Alarm Security, National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association, 2nd edition, 1991, pp 62-63

"The alarm company introduced a most unusual service - what may be called the protection against tardiness. They kept time for the City of Providence, learning the correct time from the Ladd Observatory at Brown University and adjusting the clocks around town by transmitting electric signals every minute on the minute."

"In this time protection system, RIEP would connect each monitored clock to a companion clock at its central station. To a circuit serving several clocks, it would connect a master clock, which in turn was connected to a circuit running to the Observatory. When the minute struck at the Observatory, an electric impulse would move the master clock ahead one minute. Simultaneously, the master would transmit the impulses to all the slave clocks on its circuit, moving each ahead one minute."

"Toward the end of the 20th century, numerous clocks in city building, hospitals, church steeples and other Providence locales, were still regulated by RIEP. RIEP was one fo the few alarm companies to monitor clocks, although Western Union and other telegraph companies did and, in some cases, still do. Some alarm companies offered other time-related services: ringing of church bells on the hour, and ringing bells and whistles to signal lunch time, the end of the work day and bed time."

--mikeu ^talk 19:39, 14 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedian in Residence

During 2016 the Observatory will be celebrating its 125th anniversary. We're looking for Wikipedians to improve this article and others that are related to the history of Ladd Observatory as part of the Wikipedia:GLAM/US initiative. See Outreach:Wikipedian_in_Residence/Ladd_Observatory for more information about the project or contact me on my talk page if you are interested in participating either in residence or online. --mikeu ^talk 16:35, 26 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]