Willard L. Eccles Observatory is a University of Utah research observatory on Frisco Peak in the San Francisco Mountains northwest of Milford, established to use Southern Utah’s dark, dry skies. It emerged from the university’s growing astronomy program after the 2001 renovation of South Physics Observatory, which focused on classes and public star parties. A separate southern Utah research facility was proposed in 2006, funded by the Willard L. Eccles Foundation and supported by the E.R. & E.W. Dumke Foundation. Frisco Peak was chosen in 2008, construction began in 2009, and first light came that October with observations of NGC 891. The observatory supports classes, research, upgrades for transient astronomy, and newer high-energy astrophysics work.