The observatory has been recording climate data for 135 years. The grant, part of the federal "Save America's Treasures" program, will help provide money for workers at the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover to digitize archives before they are returned to the observatory.
"This allows us to share with scientists and researchers across the world," said William Minsinger, president of the observatory. "We've finally gotten to the digitization of this."
The Blue Hill climate records are described as the longest-running records taken by one site in North America.
The grant comes at a time of change for the observatory, which is undergoing renovations to its structures and exhibits. The renovations began this summer and will cost about $2 million.
This is the fourth time the observatory has applied for the grant, Minsinger said, and there's still money to be had. The observatory is accepting donations for a matching $90,000 and has raised a third of that already.
Minsinger said he hopes the digitization is done by the time the renovations end.
"When the building is then reopened," he said, "the books go back to Blue Hill."
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