Dunbar Laboratory [Demolished]
Address48, Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Alternate Address50R, Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number318
Historic CAPS Identifier
HA9.318.1
Building Root Number 01318
Building Root Number 01318
Architect (Original)
Harvard University
Constructed
1923
Building Acquired 1923
Demolished 2003
Building Acquired 1923
Demolished 2003
StatusInactive
Materials for this building in our collection are not fully processed at this time.
Site Name HistoryThe site is named for Atherton Kingsley Dunbar (A.B. 1917), a Fellow for Research in Cryogenic Engineering at the College who died while researching the properties of liquid gases.Historical NotesOriginally Dunbar was used as an artillery shed during the first world war and was later utilized for geophysics experiments. The building was a gift of friends as a memorial to Atherton Kingsley Dunbar (A.B. 1917). The one-story building sat on Oxford Street behind the old McKay Engineering Laboratory, which was demolished in 1962.Additional InformationHarvard University Archives. Construction Management Records, ca. 1953-1986. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.8000
“Dunbar Laboratory Opened at Harvard: In Memory of Instructor Killed by Explosion Now Testing Certain Gases at 300 Degrees Below Zero.” Boston Daily Globe, 2 Aug. 1923, p. 3.
“Dunbar Laboratory Opened at Harvard.” The Cambridge Tribune, 11 Aug. 1923, p. 7.
Harvard University Planning and Real Estate. Documentation of Dunbar Laboratory and the Steam Shed, 2001. Harvard University Archves call number HUB 1341.
Harvard University. General Information by and about Dunbar Laboratory. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1341.2.
