In 1919 Dinsmore Alter, professor of astronomy at the University of Kansas, secured funding for the construction of a new observatory and purchase of a six-inch reflecting telescope. Alter wanted to build a larger, twenty-inch reflecting telescope and eventually created an active program of asteroidal and cometary research on campus. In 1927, he enlisted the help of amateur astronomist and wealthy businessman William Pitt. Pitt spent one year grinding two Pyrex lenses for the telescope. Upon completion, these lenses were then plated in aluminium by 1926 University of Kansas Graduate Dr. John Strong.

The mechanical parts of the telescope were designed and produced by Manley Hood, a 1929 University graduate, and his brother Henry. The two produced all parts except for two in the University's Fowler Shops. The two parts too big for Fowler to handle were cast in Kansas City. In 1930, just a few hundred dollars short of completion, the project ran out of funding. Alter left the University in 1935, leaving it up to Wyman Storer to complete the telescope. Four years after Storer took over the project, the William Pitt Telescope was officially dedicated on February 17, 1939.

In 1944, the observatory was demolished and the telescope went into storage in the basement of Hoch Auditorium. In 1952, another observatory was built on top of Lindley Hall to house the telescope. The observatory was named Tombaugh Observatory after University of Kansas graduate Clyde Tombaugh who discovered Pluto in 1930. Tombaugh also worked on the telescope while he completed his Master's degree in astronomy from 1938 until 1939. The telescope remained on top of Lindley hall until 2001, when the observatory had fallen into disrepair. The University placed the telescope on permanent loan to the Northeast Kansas Amateur Astronomers League. The telescope was moved to Farpoint Observatory on the grounds of Mission Valley High School near Auburn, Kansas and refurbished.