Built with funds provided by then-Governor Herbert W. Ladd, Brown’s observatory was built under the guiding eye of Professor Winslow Upton, who would also serve as its first director. The intended purpose of the building and its telescope (a refractor of twelve inches aperture and fifteen feet focal length) was three-fold: to provide instruction in astronomy, to conduct astronomical research and to furnish time signals (a service Ladd provided to the community until 1973).