Boston Museum of Science Lightning Show Got Its Start in Dartmouth

BOSTON (WBSM) — You may be – ahem – shocked to find out the Lightning Show at the Theater of Electricity at Boston’s Museum of Science actually owes its roots to Dartmouth’s Round Hill estate.

The towering posts topped with hollow aluminum orbs generate about two million volts of electricity, thrilling those in attendance as bolts of man-made lightning crackle through the controlled environment of the theater.

It's one of the museum's most popular exhibits.

The device is known as a Van de Graaff generator, named after the man who invented it. So what does it have to do with Round Hill?

The generator was built there and spent the first part of its existence conducting experiments on the estate.

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Colonel Ned Green and Dartmouth's Round Hill

Edward “Ned” Green, who referred to himself as “Colonel Green” even though he held no rank, built the great Round Hill mansion after receiving his inheritance following the death of his mother, Hetty Green.

Hetty was known as “The Witch of Wall Street” and when she died, she left behind a fortune of $100-$200 million, which today would be equivalent to $2.7 billion to $5.4 billion.

Ned Green had a variety of interests and pursuits, including a fascination with early radio. He built a radio station and transmitter at Round Hill.

READ MORE: The Weird Paranormal History of Dartmouth's Round Hill

He also had a strong interest in science, and allowed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to use part of his Round Hill property for conducting experiments. According to the MIT Alumni website, “Green invited MIT students to use this equipment, study, and live on his estate.”

How Robert Van de Graaff Brought His Generator to Round Hill

Van de Graaff invented the generator named for him while at Princeton in 1929, and it was used “for research in early atom smashing and high-energy X-ray experiments,” according to the MIT Alumni website.

He brought it with him to MIT in 1931, and MIT President Karl Compton asked him to build the largest Van de Graaff generator ever made. Needing as much space as possible, he built it in an airship hangar on moveable tracks at Round Hill and began testing it there in 1933.

Fun fact: Van de Graaf formed a company in 1946 called the High Voltage Engineering Corporation (HVEC) to produce Van de Graaff generators. His partner in that venture was John G. Trump, uncle of future President of the United States Donald Trump.

How the Van de Graaff Generator Got From Dartmouth to Boston

The Van de Graaff generator remained at Round Hill for the next 20 years, continuing on with various research projects.

Colonel Green died in 1936, but MIT still used Round Hill as a research site, and the family then donated the estate to MIT in 1948, before it was sold in 1964.

Meanwhile, the Van de Graaff generator built there was considered obsolete by 1956, and it was donated to the Museum of Science, where it remains today.

Generations of children have learned about the power of electricity through the generator that was built in Dartmouth, perhaps inspiring future scientists to make their own advancements someday.