a glimpse of the heaven

One night on Mt. Wilson about 1908, a short, powerfully built man with a handlebar mustache looked through the largest telescope in the world. What he saw transformed him, and would put Los Angeles at the forefront of a movement to make astronomy the people's science.

We may never know whether Col. Griffith J. Griffith saw the rings of Saturn or another celestial object with the then-new 60-inch reflector telescope, but we can be sure that it inspired his vision of a world-class observatory for the people of Los Angeles, allowing the masses a glimpse of the heaven

Above is a sketch made by architect John C. Austin in 1932 for a science facility.  He later went on to design the iconic Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/25/local/la-me-harnisch-observatory-20130226