Round Hill is a promontory extending southward into Buzzard's Bay in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Round Hill Airport was a private airfield in operation from 1927-1936, built on land owned by Edward Howland Robinson "Colonel Ned" Green.
Edward Howland Robinson Green (1868-1936), was the only son of Henrietta "Hetty" Howland Robinson Green (1834-1916), the "Queen of Wall Street". She was an American businesswoman and financier known as "the richest woman in America" during the Guilded Age.
Colonel Ned built his home on Round Hill after his mother's death in 1916 left him and his sister 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.
Green had wide ranging interests. He acquired and refitted one of New Bedford's last whaling ships, the Charles W. Morgan, which docked on his shore for many years. He constructed the Round Hill Airport attracting many famous flyers. He built a large hangar to house the Goodyear Blimp Mayflower on the site. He invited MIT scientists to open a laboratory for research projects in the areas of radio communication, aircraft navigation, high voltage and meteorology.
Round Hill attracted many prominent visitors, including Charles Lindberg, Jimmy Doolittle, William Randolph Hearst Jr, and Eddie Rickenbacker. Colonel Green also welcomed the masses to enjoy his seaside property and entertained them with radio broadcasts from his radio station WMAF "Voice from Way Down East". From huge speakers on the water tower, people listened to music, presidential speeches and baseball games.
Colonel Ned Green died in 1936 and Round Hill Airport reportedly closed the same year. It continued to appear on government maps for some time afterward. The Round Hill estate was badly damaged in the 1938 Hurricane, which destroyed the hangar.
Most of the photographs in this exhibit were taken by E.L. Weeden, Colonel Green's Round Hill photographer and were compiled in a photo scrapbook by Wally Smith. The photo scrapbook is part of MASM''s collection.
