Astronomical Observatory

Your Pathway to the Stars!

Named after one of the greatest explorers and cartographers, the David Thompson Astronomical Observatory (DTAO) is home to one of the largest publicly accessible telescopes in Central Canada! The DTAO offers an array of illuminating events and programs year-round to explore the mysteries of the universe, including public events, day and evening educational programs, overnight adventures, and adventures for Guides and Scouts.

About the David Thompson Astronomical Observatory

The DTAO is home to a 20” Corrected Dall-Kirkham (CDK) Telescope, one of the largest publicly available telescopes in Central Canada. This amazing telescope can bring a variety of celestial bodies into sharp focus including galaxies, nebulas, star clusters, and planets! The DTAO also features collection of meteorites and authentic astronomy instruments used by explorers such as David Thompson in the 1700s.

Who was David Thompson?

David Thompson was a British fur trader, surveyor, astronomer and cartographer, and has been described as the “greatest land geographer who ever lived.” Thompson joined the North West Company as a surveyor in 1797. Over a 20-year period, Thompson mapped almost 4 million square kilometres of North America! A reproduction of Thompson’s massive map hangs in Fort William Historical Park’s Great Hall. During his vast explorations he became intimately acquainted with numerous Indigenous Peoples and their cultures, and discovered a viable trade route to the West Coast.

International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark

In 2023, as part of the Great Rendezvous event for Fort William Historical Park’s (FWHP) 50th anniversary celebration, the American and Canadian Societies for Civil Engineers presented FWHP with a plaque to recognize David Thompson’s contributions to surveying and mapping northwestern North America 1790-1814. This plaque marks FWHP as an international historic civil engineering landmark and is now officially homed outside the David Thompson Astronomical Observatory.

ASCE/CSCE International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark
David Thompson's Surveying and Mapping of the Northwest of North America 1790-1814

David Thompson (1770-1857) – Surveyor, map-maker, explorer, and fur trader for the Hudson’s Bay and North West companies – was, despite his serious visual impairment, “The greatest land geographer that the world has produced,” according to J.B. Tyrrell. Often accompanied by his Métis wife, Charlotte Small, he surveyed and mapped a vast region stretching from the 45th parallel to the 60th parallel and from the western shores of Hudson Bay and Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean between 1790 and 1812. His 1814 great map, compiled from his surveys and those of Alexander Mackenzie, Simon Fraser, George Vancouver, and Philip Turnor, laid the groundwork for the development of the northwest of North America.

2022

American Society of Civil Engineers

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering