Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science Building
By Pub. by Mullen Brothers, Pittsburgh, PA. "Tichnor Quality Views," Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Made Only by Tichnor Bros., Inc., Boston, Mass. - Boston Public Library Tichnor Brothers collection #67420, Public Domain
Location:
10 Children's Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Description:
The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science—often called “the People’s Observatory”—opened on October 24, 1939, as Pittsburgh’s premiere science venue and the fifth major planetarium in the United States. Funded by the Buhl Foundation in memory of Henry Buhl, Jr., the stripped-Classical limestone building was designed by Ingham, Pratt & Boyd and cost approximately $1.07 million. It centered around the dramatic “Theater of the Stars,” a 492‑seat dome theater more than 65 feet wide, featuring a mechanical Zeiss Model II projector that rose from the floor to display over 9,000 twinkling stars.
The facility also included a rooftop siderostat telescope, a 35-foot Foucault pendulum, interactive “talking exhibits,” and galleries dedicated to the physical sciences—building an early prototype of what we today call the science center. After more than fifty years of operation—hosting hundreds of thousands of visitors and even training military navigators—the Buhl Planetarium closed its doors in August 1991 as a public museum. It became part of the Carnegie Science Center, which opened in 1991 across the Ohio River and houses the new Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium & Observatory.
Following its annex use for classes, the original Buhl building was transferred in 2002 to the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, which added a glass link to the historic Allegheny Post Office, transforming the pair into a unified educational campus. Today the building remains a City of Pittsburgh historic structure and a Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation landmark—an enduring Pittsburgh architectural icon and former gateway to discovery and wonder.
