Statement of Significance (as of designation - December 20, 1989):
Completed in 1925, Hale Solar Laboratory is important for its association with George Ellery Hale (1868-1938), the person most responsible for the rise of the science of astrophysics in the United States. Hale's scientific contributions were numerous, especially in the area of astronomy. In the latter part of his life, this was Hale's office and workshop, where he studied the sun with instruments of his own design.