The British Army began regular meteorological and magnetic observations on this campus in 1840, stimulating colonial society's fascination with science. After the Province of Canada took over the program in 1853, it built a new observatory, which became the headquarters of the Meteorological Service of Canada. Superintendent G.T. Kingston set up a system of stations, many telegraphically linked, which enabled the Service to issue both storm warnings and daily forecasts by 1876. Opened in 1909, this building was the Service's headquarters until its centenary in 1971.