In 1948, Gavriil Tikhov headed an independent institution - the astrobotany sector of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR - and founded his own observatory.

Observations of the solar eclipse of September 21, 1941, in Kazakhstan were carried out by seven expeditions, which included astronomers, physicists and geophysicists from Moscow and Leningrad.

In light of the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, it was decided to stay in Kazakhstan and join the evacuated scientists in Alma-Ata.

In the same year, several scientists studying the city found an ideal place for observation near Almaty - the Stone Plateau, which was 1450 meters above sea level.

In the second half of 1945, the site (11 km (6.8 mi) from Alma-Ata at an altitude of 1,450 metres (4,760 ft) above sea level) and the project of the observatory were chosen, and in March 1946 a government decree on the construction was adopted.