About this property
The George Herbert Jones Laboratory is an academic building at 5747 S. Ellis Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, on the main campus of the University of Chicago. Room 405 of the building was named a National Historic Landmark in 1967; it was the site where plutonium, the first man-made element, was isolated and measured. The George Herbert Jones Laboratory is at the northwest corner of the main quadrangle of the University of Chicago campus, between East 58th and 57th Streets. It is a four-story masonry structure, built in 1928-29 as facility and instructional space for the university's staff of research chemists and graduate students in chemistry. Room 405 is a relatively non-descript chamber on the fourth floor, measuring 6 by 9 feet (1.8 m × 2.7 m), with shelves and counters lining its walls. It is accessed via a wooden door with a glass window in its upper half. As part of the Manhattan Project under the United States Department of War, University of Chicago chemists began to study the newly manufactured radioactive element, plutonium. Room 405 was the site where, for the first time on August 18, 1942, a team led by physicist Glenn Seaborg isolated a trace quantity of this new element. Measurements, performed on September 10, 1942, enabled chemists to determine the new element's atomic weight. This important step was to change the world, making possible both nuclear power and nuclear weapons. Seaborg later said of this event: "These memorable days will go down in scientific history to mark the first sight of a synthetic element, and the first isolation of a weighable amount of an artificially produced isotope of any element." The U.S. Department of Energy remediated Jones Laboratory in the 1980s by studying and removing almost all of the building's World War II-era radioactive waste. The remediation took place in 1982, 1983, and 1987. Although room 405 looks nothing like the original condition, the lobby of the laboratory maintains a collection of the specialized equipment used to perform the measurements. Although the building's basement and ground floor were significantly damaged by an explosion in 1973, Room 405 was not affected.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of Chicago listed on the National Register?
Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of Chicago was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 27, 1967.
What type of historic resource is Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of Chicago?
Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of Chicago is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
Is Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of Chicago a National Historic Landmark?
Yes. Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of Chicago has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.
What is the period of significance for Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of Chicago?
The period of significance for Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of Chicago is recorded as the modern era.
Can I research the history near Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of Chicago?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of Chicago will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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