Kitt Peak was founded in 1958, after it was selected as the site for a national observatory from a survey that included more than 150 mountain ranges across the United States. It had its first first official observer in 1959.

Pam White reports that Kitt Peak has the largest collection of optical telescopes in the world with 25 optical and two radio telescopes. The observatory sits on top of a 6,875 mountain on the Tohono O'odham Nation southwest of Tucson.