Second high school, overnight parking were talk of the town October 18th, 2009
Fan dancers, new Osco, abandoned shopping carts make headlines September 18th, 2009
E.C. “Mike” Alft :
Here’s what was happening in Elgin during the month of September 100, 75, 50, 25 and 10 years ago.
Rats got the best of cats in Elgin in 1909 August 20th, 2009
E.C. “Mike” Alft
What was making headlines in Elgin in the month of August 100, 75, 50, 25 and 10 years ago?
A look back at Elgin’s lazy days of summer July 27th, 2009
What was happening in Elgin during the month of July 100, 75, 50, 25 and 10 years ago?
Looking back on June in Elgin June 27th, 2009
E.C. “Mike” Alft :
Here’s what was making headlines in Elgin during the month of June 100, 75, 50, 25 and 10 years ago:
E. C. Alft – from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia June 17th, 2009
Elmer C. “Mike” Alft, Jr. (born 1925) is a local historian and former mayor of Elgin, Illinois. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Grinnell College in 1949 and received his master’s degree from Syracuse University in 1950. He taught at Elgin High School for four decades while serving as city councilman, mayor, and various other capacities in Elgin’s local government.
He may be best known as a historian of Elgin. He has published several books on the history of Elgin and the surrounding area, in addition to hundreds of articles for the local Elgin Daily Courier-News. He currently serves as the secretary on the Board of Trustees of the Gail Borden Public Library District and writes a biweekly column on Elgin’s history.
Timed to the stars June 17th, 2009
Of all the Elgin buildings that once comprised the world’s largest watch-making complex — the huge factory, the boarding and rooming houses for employees, the gymnasium and the school that trained skilled repairmen — only the observatory remains.
Accuracy in time-keeping was a constant endeavor of the Elgin National Watch Co., and in 1910 an observatory was opened to time its watches by movements of the stars. A knoll at the northeast corner of Watch and Raymond streets was selected for the observatory because the site’s gravel composition helped insulate from vibrations transmitted through the earth. Underground cables connected the observatory with the timing department of the factory.
“Correct” time was measured by the revolution of the Earth on its axis using distant, fixed stars as reference points.
Looking into the eyepiece of a 3-inch telescope, set exactly north and south, the observer saw two horizontal and 11 vertical hairs. Actually, these were threads taken from the web of a spider set less than .007 of an inch apart.
A star appeared as a bright point of light between the horizontal hairs. Whenever it passed one of the vertical hairs, the observer pressed a button that recorded the reading on a chronograph.
On clear nights, 10 or more stars were observed, and the average of all the readings kept a master clock accurate to .01 of a second. A bedroom was provided to enable the astronomer to nap between observations.
Elgin watch movements were checked to see that they ran within a prescribed accuracy for 24-hour periods: seven-jewel, 1-minute allowance for fast or slow; 15-jewel, 30 seconds; 17-jewel, 15 seconds; 21-jewel, 5 seconds; and 23-jewel, 1 second.
Time determined at Elgin started the inaugural run of the New York Central’s Twentieth Century Limited in 1932 and opened and closed the gates of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. Beginning in 1938, the company’s telephone operators answered calls by giving the correct time from the observatory. The practice ended when dial telephone service arrived in 1955.
Watch sales now are declining because many cell phone and computer users prefer to consult the cession fission atomic time system operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. History — and time — marches on.
The observatory, its equipment and grounds were deeded to Elgin School District U46 in 1960. A planetarium was constructed in 1963 for educational purposes, and thousands of students were introduced to the wonders of astronomy.
The eight-sided building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
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