Observatory Hill
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Observatory Hill, also known as Mount Jefferson, is one of the two small mountains west of the University of Virginia Central Grounds, east of the Route 250 Bypass section of Route 29. Often abbreviated as O-Hill, the mountain is the more southern of the pair, lying just south of Lewis Mountain.
The Observatory Hill Water Treatment Plant, Hereford Residential College, New Dorms, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory headquarters are located at the base of the mountain.
The Leander McCormick Observatory was built on the summit in 1885. Thomas Jefferson had urged the purchase of the mountain for the university, in part for its suitability for an observatory, as well as its water and timber resources.