Ralph A. Worley Observatory

Ralph A. Worley Observatory is an astronomical observatory currently under lease to Shreveport-Bossier Astronomical Society. It was built in 1964 by the Shreveport-Bossier Astronomical Society and later donated to the Caddo Parish School System. It is located 8 miles south of Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.HistoryIn 1959 when the Worley family of Shreveport attended an astronomy convention in Colorado. Enthusiastic about astronomy, an organizational meeting for a club was held on October 10, 1959. The first public meeting of the club was held on November 14, 1959 at Centenary College. Sara Worley was the first President. At that time, the name of the club was the Shreveport Junior Astronomical Society. Only those members under the age of 16 could vote or hold office. Dues for regular members were $5.00 a year including a subscription to Sky and Telescope magazine. Two of the main goals of the members were to build an observatory and secure a planetarium for the Shreveport area. Star parties were held for the public to view through telescopes in order to raise money for the observatory. A fee of thirty cents per person was charged. The club estimated that approximately $10,000 was needed to build an observatory and an additional $10,000 for the telescope, eyepieces, and other equipment.The members looked for a site to build the observatory. Land was offered by a farmer—Mr. L. S. “Scrib” Frierson, but it was found that the access road through the cotton field to the selected site had a small culvert which would not support a concrete truck. Mr. Frierson directed the club members to another part of the cotton plantation where they came across an abandoned corn crib that had been burned and abandoned. The architect, Joseph Schirer, said he could redraw the original plans to convert the corn crib into an observatory building. Construction was started in September 1963 for the observatory that is still present.