The Harvard College Observatory can be traced back to 1839, with its first permanent installation being its 15-inch refractor, which was brought from Europe in 1847, after the people of Boston were inspired by the comet of 1843.

See http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/hco/grref.html.

The Cincinnati Observatory was founded in 1843, with its first telescope installed in 1845, and was moved to its current site in 1873. Their first telescope, along with a 1904 Alvan Clark and Sonstelescope, are in current use for public viewing programs.

See http://www.cincinnatiobservatory.org/history.html.