Established in 1955 west of Flagstaff after light pollution hampered work in Washington, D.C., the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station became the Navy’s national dark-sky observing facility and a center for precision positional astronomy. From its high Colorado Plateau site, it measures the motions and locations of celestial objects and produces catalogs and ephemerides important to navigation, research, and U.S. defense. Led at its founding by Dr. John Hall and first directed by Dr. Art Hoag, the station has supported Apollo-related work and gained renown through the Kaj Strand Telescope, used in 1978 to discover Charon. Its other telescopes and interferometer continue major work in astrometry, spacecraft navigation, and dark-sky stewardship.