The Octagon at Amherst College was the first natural history museum and observatory on campus. Edward Hitchcock (President of Amherst College in 1845) hired Henry A. Sykes to build it. It was intended to be unusual, with its elegant dome observatory and the collection of materials ranging from meteorites to animals and fossils. The Octagon was constructed in 1847–48.

42°22′17.1″N 72°31′8.7″W / 42.371417°N 72.519083°W / 42.371417; -72.519083