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The Sun Triangle was part of a beautification project following the flooding and reconstruction of the early 1970's. While enjoyable in its own right as a piece of public art, the Sun Triangle is also a functional alignment type sundial that displays the solstice and equinox positions of local noon time in Elmira, NY.
Local time? Before the early 1900’s time was relative to place and the apparent motion of the sun as it went from east to west in the sky each day. If you shared a common longitude you would all have a common local time, so local time in Elmira is about the same as it is in Watkins Glen, but when it’s noon local time in our part of New York State it’s about eleven minutes after in NYC, and about six minutes before in Olean!
The Sun Triangle is part of the Points of Inspiration Science & Technology Trail. For more information and stops on the trail, visit www.pointsofinspiration.net.