Mount Wilson (California)#Transmission

File:Pack train to Wilson Peak, Sierra Madre Trail, ca.1900 (CHS-4718).jpg.]]

File:Mount Wilson Trail.jpg

The native inhabitants of the San Gabriels probably belonged to various tribes of the Tongva people who lived in the low-lying valleys. Granite outcroppings along the Angeles Crest show signs of meal preparations with metate pots ground into rock surfaces.

The first recorded exploration of the mountain was performed by Benjamin Davis Wilson, also known as "Don Benito". Wilson, who was the grandfather of George S. Patton, owned Rancho San Pascual in about 1852 and ran a winery at his home, "Lake Vineyard", in the area of modern San Marino. Wilson hoped to find a suitable wood for his casks but was disappointed by the poor quality of trees on the mountain. He built a trail, following an established Indian route, which became known as the Mount Wilson Trail. In turn, Wilson's trail became the predecessor of the Mount Wilson Toll Road. He was surprised to find line shacks at the summit, probably left by Spaniards who were known to hunt grizzly bears. He built a three-room cabin along the trail called "Halfway House." Despite Wilson's inability to find adequate wood, the hike became a popular pastime for locals who would make a weekend trip to the summit. These hikers built signal fires on the summit to let people below know that the party had arrived safely.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

In January 2025, the Eaton Fire burned large swaths of Eaton Canyon on the southern aspect of Mount Wilson. Large portions of native canyon live oak and Pseudotsuga macrocarpa were killed in the process and it is uncertain whether these populations will return.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

{{Weather box|width=auto

|location = Mount Wilson, California, 1991-2020 normals

|single line = Y

|Jan record high F = 77

|Feb record high F = 80

|Mar record high F = 83

|Apr record high F = 86

|May record high F = 92

|Jun record high F = 101

|Jul record high F = 102

|Aug record high F = 101

|Sep record high F = 98

|Oct record high F = 94

|Nov record high F = 84

|Dec record high F = 78

|year record high F =

| Jan high F = 53.4

| Feb high F = 53.8

| Mar high F = 55.6

| Apr high F = 61.1

| May high F = 68.6

| Jun high F = 77.5

| Jul high F = 83.5

| Aug high F = 84.1

| Sep high F = 79.9

| Oct high F = 70.6

| Nov high F = 61.9

| Dec high F = 54.6

|year high F =

|Jan mean F = 44.8

|Feb mean F = 44.2

|Mar mean F = 46.8

|Apr mean F = 51.3

|May mean F = 58.2

|Jun mean F = 66.7

|Jul mean F = 73.0

|Aug mean F = 73.5

|Sep mean F = 68.0

|Oct mean F = 60.3

|Nov mean F = 51.9

|Dec mean F = 45.0

|year mean F =

| Jan low F = 36.1

| Feb low F = 36.6

| Mar low F = 37.8

| Apr low F = 41.7

| May low F = 48.2

| Jun low F = 57.5

| Jul low F = 64.2

| Aug low F = 63.9

| Sep low F = 59.0

| Oct low F = 51.3

| Nov low F = 43.4

| Dec low F = 37.4

|year low F = 48.4

|Jan record low F = 9

|Feb record low F =11

|Mar record low F =14

|Apr record low F =18

|May record low F =22

|Jun record low F =29

|Jul record low F =38

|Aug record low F =37

|Sep record low F =34

|Oct record low F =18

|Nov record low F =15

|Dec record low F =10

|year record low F =

|precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation inch = 7.73

| Feb precipitation inch = 8.26

| Mar precipitation inch = 5.63

| Apr precipitation inch = 2.05

| May precipitation inch = 1.05

| Jun precipitation inch = 0.21

| Jul precipitation inch = 0.21

| Aug precipitation inch = 0.01

| Sep precipitation inch = 0.32

| Oct precipitation inch = 1.31

| Nov precipitation inch = 3.48

| Dec precipitation inch = 4.46

|year precipitation inch =

| Jan snow inch = 3.6

| Feb snow inch = 2.4

| Mar snow inch = 3.0

| Apr snow inch = 1.4

| May snow inch = 0.1

| Jun snow inch = 0.0

| Jul snow inch = 0.0

| Aug snow inch = 0.0

| Sep snow inch = 0.0

| Oct snow inch = 0.0

| Nov snow inch = 0.6

| Dec snow inch = 1.7

| year snow inch =

| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in

| Jan precipitation days = 6.7

| Feb precipitation days = 8.6

| Mar precipitation days = 6.8

| Apr precipitation days = 4.4

| May precipitation days = 2.5

| Jun precipitation days = 1.0

| Jul precipitation days = 1.0

| Aug precipitation days = 0.4

| Sep precipitation days = 1.0

| Oct precipitation days = 2.9

| Nov precipitation days = 4.2

| Dec precipitation days = 6.8

| year precipitation days = 46.3

|unit snow days = 0.1 in

|Jan snow days =

|Feb snow days =

|Mar snow days =

|Apr snow days =

|May snow days =

|Jun snow days =

|Jul snow days =

|Aug snow days =

|Sep snow days =

|Oct snow days =

|Nov snow days =

|Dec snow days =

|year snow days =

|source 1 = NOAA{{cite web

| url =

| title = NOWData - NOAA Online Weather Data

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

}}{{cite web

| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USC00046006&format=pdf

| title = Summary of Monthly Normals 1991-2020

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| accessdate = December 12, 2021

}} }}

{{Main|Mount Wilson Observatory}}

File:Mount Wilson aerial, LA.jpg and the Observatory. Photo by Doc Searls. ]]

In 1889, Professor William Pickering of Harvard University, along with telescope-maker Alvan Clark, prepared an experiment with {{convert|4|and|13|in|0|adj=on}} telescopes at Mount Wilson. University students would operate the telescopes for nighttime viewing, but more often than not they would log in "bad weather, no visibility" and head to town to relieve their boredom. The small observatory was abandoned with plans to build a larger one at a later date.{{cite web|url=http://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/LA/mtwilson1.htm|title=History of Mt. Wilson|publisher=oldradio.com|access-date=2010-12-04}}

In 1891, Thaddeus S. C. Lowe incorporated the Pasadena & Mount Wilson Railroad with the plan of building a scenic mountain railroad to the summit of Mt. Wilson. At the same time, land and easement disputes between camp owners Steils and Strain were going on over the public and private use of the Mount Wilson Trail. The courts ruled that the trail was a public thoroughfare and that any blockading would be illegal. At the foot of the mountain, a local contractor Thomas Banbury built a {{cvt|10|mi}} roadway to be named "The New Mount Wilson Trail," now the Mount Wilson Toll Road. Passage fare was 25¢ round trip for hikers ({{inflation|US|0.25|1891|fmt=eq}}) and 50¢ for horseback.

In 1892, Charles William Eliot, president of Harvard University, planned to have two {{cvt|40|in}} lenses shipped from Alvan Clark & Sons in Corning, New York to the newly named Mount Harvard, directly adjacent to Mt. Wilson. The money was to be put up by Edward Falles Spence of the University of Southern California. Walter Raymond, of Raymond & Whitcomb Travel Agency, Boston, and owner of the Raymond Hotel, Pasadena, offered to pay for rail from New York. Lowe offered to take the lenses up via his yet-to-be-built Mt. Wilson Railway. Spence died suddenly and left no word of the money for the project. The lenses ended up at Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin, and Lowe's railway ended up going to Oak Mountain (Mount Lowe).

By 1901, The Mount Wilson Toll Road Co. had purchased Henninger Flats, Strain's Camp, Martin's Camp, and {{cvt|640|acre|sqkm}} of the summit.

In 1903, George Ellery Hale visited Mt. Wilson and was impressed by the perfect conditions for which to set up the observatory, which would become the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory in 1904. In 1905, {{convert|40|acre|m2}} were leased for 99 years by the Carnegie Institution for Science in order to construct telescopes, and construction began on a new Mt. Wilson Hotel. In 1908, a {{cvt|60.|in|mm}} telescope was completed at the summit, and, in 1910, the {{convert|150|ft|m||adj=mid}} Solar Tower was erected. In 1913, the hotel burned down and was replaced by a second hotel that lasted until its demolition in 1966. The Toll Road opened to automobiles in 1912 and lasted until 1936.

In 1917, the {{cvt|100|inch}} Hooker Telescope was completed and saw first light and would be the world's largest telescope until the opening of the {{cvt|200|inch}} Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in 1948.

In 1919, American astronomer Edwin Hubble arrived at Mt. Wilson and, throughout the 1920s, made many astronomical discoveries using the Hooker Telescope. Among his contributions are the observational proof that many nebulous objects are actually galaxies beyond our own Milky Way galaxy, the classification of galaxies according to the Hubble sequence, and the development of Hubble's law relating a galaxy's observed red shift to its distance away. These contributions led to an understanding that the universe is not static, but expanding. This concept is the basis of the Big Bang theory of cosmology.

In 1926, Albert Abraham Michelson made what was then the most precise calculation of the speed of light at the time by measuring the round-trip travel time of light between Mount Wilson and Mount San Antonio {{cvt|22|mi}} away.

File:Mt Wilson antenna farm winter.jpeg

The first television antenna on Mount Wilson was erected in 1947 for pioneer station KTLA channel 5. At about the same time, the first FM station broadcast from Mount Wilson, which was the old KFI-FM on 105.9 FM (signed off in 1950). The mountain became so popular as a site for transmitters that, in 1963, the Metromedia company bought {{Convert|720|acre|km2|1}} from the Mount Wilson Hotel Company. Metromedia built Skyline Park, which consisted of a pavilion, a children's zoo and landscaped walks.{{cite web |url=http://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/LA/mtwilson3.htm |title=The Story of Mt. Wilson, California Part 3 – Broadcasters Invade |publisher=oldradio.com|access-date=2010-12-04}} The park closed in 1976 after operating at a loss for almost a decade. The property is now the home of numerous transmitters serving the Los Angeles metropolitan area and includes radio, television and microwave relay facilities.

The tallest of these, according to the FCC database, is the guyed mast built for KCBS-TV, now owned by Richland Towers, which stands at a height of {{cvt|972|ft}},{{cite web|url=http://www.fccinfo.com/CMDProASRLookup.php?tabSearchType=ASR+Search&sASR=1012836|title=Antenna Structure Registration 1012836 |publisher=fccinfo.com|access-date=2010-12-04}}{{cite web|url=http://www.fccinfo.com/CMDProASRLookup.php?sKilometers=15&sLatitude=34-13-55.0&sLongitude=118-04-18.0&tabSearchType=ASR+W&order=7|A|N|title=Antenna Structure Registration Search Results Within 15 Kilometers of 34-13-55.0 and 118-04-18.0|publisher=fccinfo.com|access-date=2010-12-04}} built in 1986.

The following television stations transmit from Mount Wilson:

Most stations in the Los Angeles Designated Market Area not listed above transmit from Mount Harvard, an adjacent peak. These stations are (listed by virtual channel followed by physical channel): KHTV-CD channel 6/22 (MeTV+), KZNO-LD channel 12/6 (Jewelry TV), KPOM-CD channel 14/27 (Catchy Comedy), KMRZ-LD channel 16/26 (Jewelry TV), KSFV-CD channel 27/27 (MeTV Toons), KRVD-LD channel 33/10 (Vietnamese Ind.), KAZA-TV channel 54/22 (MeTV).

KVME-TV channel 20/20 (Jewelry TV) transmits from the White Mountains near Bishop.

The FM broadcasters are KPCC-FM 89.3, KPFK-FM 90.7, KUSC-FM 91.5, KRRL-FM 92.3, KCBS-FM 93.1, KLLI-FM 93.9, KTWV 94.7, KLOS-FM 95.5, KNX-FM 97.1, KKLA-FM 99.5, KKLQ-FM 100.3, KRTH-FM 101.1, KSCA-FM 101.9, KIIS-FM 102.7, KOST-FM 103.5, KBIG-FM 104.3, KKGO-FM 105.1, KPWR-FM 105.9, and KLVE-FM 107.5.

In 1984, the Carnegie Institution for Science began the process of shutting down the observatories on Mount Wilson, opting to concentrate on newer sites in Chile. In 1986, the Mt. Wilson Institute was formed and plans to reopen the observatories were made so that by 2000 all the telescopes were back in operation.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}

Construction began in 1996 for six 1-meter telescopes by the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy at Georgia State University. This was the largest optical interferometric array at the time. Ground was broken for the telescopes in 1999 and the facility became operational in 2001.Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy Web site (http://www.chara.gsu.edu), Retrieved 8-4-2011.

{{wide image|LA Mount Wilson Pano.jpg|700px|A view of Los Angeles from Mount Wilson|left}}

• {{C|San Gabriel Mountains National Monument|San Gabriel Mountains National Monument−related topics}}
• Palomar Observatory
• Sierra Madre, California—at the base of Mt. Wilson, with a trailhead to the peak.

{{reflist}}

{{commons+cat}}

• [http://www.well.com/user/dmsml/wilson.html List of Mount Wilson broadcasters]
• [http://www.earthsignals.com/Collins/0035/index.htm Photos from Mount Wilson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526023959/http://www.earthsignals.com/Collins/0035/index.htm |date=2011-05-26 }}
• [http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~obs/towercam.htm Webcam at Mount Wilson Observatory]
• [http://tchester.org/sgm/places/mt_wilson.html Hikers]
• {{cite web|last=Howser|first=Huell|title=Mt. Wilson – California's Gold (147)|url=http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2010/11/08/desert-adventure-californias-gold-142/|work=California's Gold|publisher=Chapman University Huell Howser Archive|author-link=Huell Howser|date=November 8, 2010|access-date=June 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630090601/http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2010/11/08/desert-adventure-californias-gold-142/|archive-date=June 30, 2013|url-status=dead}}
• [http://www.chara.gsu.edu/ CHARA Array]
• [http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz002cx1h0 Image of a slope on Mount Wilson, California, 1920-1939.] Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Mount (California)}}

Mount Wilson

Category:Mountains of Los Angeles County, California

Mount Wilson

Mount Wilson

Category:Mountains of Southern California