{"nrhp_refnum":"66000366","name":"Ether Dome, Massachusetts General Hospital","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Fruit St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.36348973950004,"lon":-71.06790727100619,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1965-01-12","areas_of_significance":["Science"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Ether Dome is a skylighted operating theatre and amphitheatre atop the central section of the Bulfinch Building at Massachusetts General Hospital on Fruit Street, Boston. The hospital building was designed by Charles Bulfinch and built in 1818-23.","why_significant":"The room is where ether was first used successfully in public to anesthetize a surgical patient, on October 16, 1846. Dr. John Collins Warren operated and Dr. William T. G. Morton administered the ether. The demonstration is credited with proving the value of ether in surgery. The room has kept its essential character since the 1844-46 interior revisions.","narrative":"Atop the central section of Massachusetts General Hospital's original Boston building sits a square attic story capped by a skylighted saucer dome. Inside is the Ether Dome, a tiered clinical amphitheatre. Charles Bulfinch designed the granite Greek Revival hospital, built in 1818-23 under Alexander Parris, and George Perkins directed interior revisions in 1844-46 that gave the room its present look. On October 16, 1846, Dr. John Collins Warren removed a tumor from patient Gilbert Abbott's neck while Dr. William T. G. Morton administered ether. It was the first successful public use of ether as a surgical anesthetic, and Warren declared, \"Gentlemen, this is no humbug.\" The room served as the hospital's operating theatre until 1867 and has since hosted lectures, meetings and classes. It was restored in 1930 and 1965, with only modest changes to the dome, lighting and seat railings. The room is open to visitors when hospital staff are not using it.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Charles Bulfinch; George Perkins","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"In good condition and occupied; restored in 1930 and 1965, used for lectures, meetings and classes, and open to the public when not in use by hospital staff.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 01:58:47.884769-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/7938/63793895/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/66000366_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000366/56cb2158d9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000366/56cb2158d9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Adam Lenhardt","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MGH_Ether_Dome_Outside_29Jan2008.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Adam Lenhardt</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MGH_Ether_Dome_Outside_29Jan2008.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793895","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ether_Dome","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q257073"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/ether-dome-massachusetts-general-hospital-66000366/"}