Round Hill, Massachusetts

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The MIT radio telescope at Round Hill with Buzzards Bay in the foreground.
The MIT radio telescope at Round Hill with Buzzards Bay in the foreground.

Round Hill is a location in Dartmouth, Massachusetts of historical significance.

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[edit] History

Edward Howland Robinson Green, known as "Colonel" Ned Green, the only son of the renowned female tycoon and miser, Hetty Green, built his home on Round Hill after his mother's death in 1916 left him with a fortune of between $100 and $200 million. The mansion was designed by architect Alfred C. Bossom and completed in 1921 at a cost of $1.5 million dollars.

In 1948, twelve years after the Colonel's death, his sister and heir donated the entire property to MIT, which used the 240-acre (0.97 km²) estate for educational and military purposes. MIT erected a giant antenna atop a 50,000-gallon water tank on the site. Another was erected nearby for research towards the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. The giant dish antenna stood as a local and marine navigational landmark until the current owners of the site, the Bevelaqua family, demolished it in 2007.

In 1964 MIT sold the estate to the Society of Jesus of New England as a retreat. Its upper floors were converted into 64 individual rooms, and its main floor reworkd to include a chapel, conference rooms, and library. In 1968 the Jesuits sold much of the estate's beach to the Town of Dartmouth in 1968, and then in 1970 sold the entire property to a local woman, Gratia R. Montgomery. She in turn sold most of the site to private developers in 1981, and the area is now a private, gated condominium community.

[edit] Radio WMAF

In 1923, (as continuous-wave broadcasting became available), Colonel Green founded WMAF, a radio station with the tag, "The Voice from Way Down East". MIT's President, Samuel W. Stratton and the Department of Electrical Engineering's new Communications Division were invited to experiment with the new technology, and the department was initially financed by Colonel Green.

Professor Edward L. Bowles set out to determine the signal strength and radiation patterns of different antenna arrays in 1926. Round Hill's radio station (which included an early radio telescope, built on the foundation of a lighthouse) followed Donald B. MacMillan's and Admiral Richard E. Byrd's polar expeditions, tracked the Graf Zeppelin dirigible during its maiden transatlantic flight, and was the sole communication link for areas devastated by the Vermont floods in 1927.

[edit] Van de Graaff

In 1933, Round Hill was the site of Robert J. Van de Graaff's electrical experiments. He built a 40-foot (12 m) tall Van de Graaff generator in an abandoned airship hangar. The generator was donated in 1956 to the Museum of Science, Boston, and circa 2005 the generator continues to function as a major exhibit.

[edit] Charles W. Morgan

The New Bedford whaling ship Charles W. Morgan, now on display at Mystic Seaport, was once owned in part by Colonel Green, and moored at Round Hill.

[edit] World War II

During World War II, the Coast Artillery built a fire control structure on the site.

[edit] Today

An April 4th, 2007, article in the New Bedford Standard Times reported that the giant antenna may be demolished by the current owner.

On November 19th, 2007, the antenna was demolished by the current owner in order to make way for a new home.

[edit] External links

[edit] General

[edit] Robert J. Van de Graaff

[edit] Later use