John H. Witte, Jr. Observatory

The 'JOHN H WITTE OBSERVATORY COMPLEX is a U.S. astronomical observatory site operated by Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club. Located near Sperry, IA, the WITTE OBSERVATORY COMPLEX consists of three separate observatories. The JOHN H WITTE OBSERVATORY houses a 12 inch Alvan Clark and Sons refractor. The telescope was originally donated to the Burlington school system in 1937 by John H. Witte Jr. a local businessman and amateur astronomer. The observatory was completed with the assistance of funds from his foundation in May 1987.Several years later the PRUGH-CARVER OBSERVATORY was built to house Mr. Witte’s personal telescope, an eight inch refractor made by J. W. Fecker in 1931. The latest addition, the STONE-KELLY OBSERVATORY, contains a 16 inch classical cassegrain made by Ealing Optical. The observatory is now used by many astronomy groups in the area.