Yerkes Future Foundation
Yerkes Future Foundation
Aerial View of Yerkes Observatory
The Yerkes Future Foundation (YFF) was established in 2018 to preserve Yerkes Observatory, a beautiful 1897 Beaux Arts building and the birthplace of modern astrophysics. The great dome houses the forty-inch great refractor, the largest refracting telescope in the world. Research-level reflecting telescopes occupy the other two domes and are conducting ongoing research. Surrounding the Observatory are fifty acres designed by the Olmsted firm. In May of 2020, YFF took stewardship of the fifty acres and all buildings on site. In 2022, YFF reopened Yerkes Observatory to the public for tours and programming and will now be an epicenter of science, arts, and culture in which the community can take pride for generations.
