In 1870, an aspiring young astronomer moved to a little red house that once occupied this site. Dr. William R. Brooks (1844-1921), the village's photographer, built a small platform and mounting post at the corner of an apple orchard just east of this spot and named it the Red House Observatory. In October 1881, using the third homemade telescope he had created, Brooks discovered his first comet. Over the next 7 years, he and the Red House Observatory became internationally renowned as he discovered 11 comets here and 27 over his career.