Ether Monument image

Ether Monument

Tourist attraction Historical landmark Monument

😐 One of the interesting monuments you can see at the Boston Public Garden is the Ether Monument also referred to as the Good Samaritan statue, This monument commemorates the discovered use of ether as an anaesthesia here in Boston in 1846. This 40 foot tall monument is the oldest at the park being c... People often mention monument, Boston, ether, Monument, statue,


Address

Arlington St & Marlborough St, Boston, MA 02116

Website

www.boston.gov

Contact

(617) 635-3850

Rating on Google Maps

4.70 (64 reviews)

Open on Google Maps

Working Hours

  • Saturday: 6 AM to 11:30 PM
  • Sunday: 6 AM to 11:30 PM
  • Monday: 6 AM to 11:30 PM
  • Tuesday: 6 AM to 11:30 PM
  • Wednesday: 6 AM to 11:30 PM
  • Thursday: 6 AM to 11:30 PM
  • Friday: 6 AM to 11:30 PM

Featured Reviews


Frequently mentioned in reviews: monument (16) Boston (10) ether (7) Monument (6) statue (6)
Reviews are sorted by relevance, prioritizing the most helpful and insightful feedback at the top for easier reference.
  • 3/5 BradJill 5 years ago on Google • 4322 reviews
    One of the interesting monuments you can see at the Boston Public Garden is the Ether Monument also referred to as the Good Samaritan statue, This monument commemorates the discovered use of ether as an anaesthesia here in Boston in 1846. This 40 foot tall monument is the oldest at the park being created by by John Quincy Adams Ward in 1868. Made of granite and marble, it is topped by a figure of a Moorish-Spanish doctor, holding a sick or dying person who appears to be in great pain. The base of the monument includes four panelled inscriptions, describing the use of esther as a pain relief, topped by relief scenes. The Ether Monument is quite attractive and an interesting link to local medical history in Boston. We quite enjoyed seeing this monument amongst others at the Boston Public Garden and nearby Boston Common. Note: You can find it located at the northwest corner of the garden, near Arlington and Beacon streets.
    12 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Katey D. 5 years ago on Google • 243 reviews
    One of my favorite places to relax when visiting this area. Always calm and the monument itself stands for something truly incredible: the invention of modern anesthesia and to ease pain/suffering.
    6 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Cindy W. 7 years ago on Google • 199 reviews
    Monument with a water features. Good for photos.
    3 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Schleifer G. 6 years ago on Google • 501 reviews
    I love to sit there and relax. One of my favorites in the garden.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Niq H. 7 years ago on Google • 1029 reviews
    This is my favorite monument in the park. Has a bit of a baroque emotion on top of the slightly classicist base.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 Tommy M. 5 years ago on Google
    I work nearby. Google seems to think that it's important to remind me that this thing is here everyday.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Jim T. 6 years ago on Google
    Looking at it makes me pleasantly numb.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Lindsay G. 5 years ago on Google
    Best ether monument I have ever seen. I would give this 6 out of 5 stars if I could.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 MrsWayfarer 4 years ago on Google
    Nice and peaceful spot
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Barry H. 9 years ago on Google
    The only moment to a drug I know of
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Dragon D. 6 years ago on Google
    (Translated by Google) Beautiful monument (Original) Hermoso monumento
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Angelo S. 2 years ago on Google • 614 reviews
    Tucked away in the Boston Gardens is a monument to the discovery of anesthesia. Simple but grand, if you have some time walking through the park it is worth the short visit.

  • 5/5 Geeg W. 2 years ago on Google • 353 reviews
    Captain Ahab of Ahab's Adventures refilling his ether from the statue!

  • 4/5 Phil S. 1 year ago on Google • 266 reviews
    Kinda dirty there

  • 5/5 Demian Pablo P. 4 months ago on Google • 212 reviews
    Monument dedicated to the first anesthesia surgery at Mass Hospital

  • 5/5 Anthony D. 5 years ago on Google • 101 reviews
    A well made Victorian era Monument to a very important medical and scientific achievement that has saved many lives.

  • 5/5 Sandro “T-Rex” P. 6 months ago on Google • 73 reviews
    Beautiful monument

  • 5/5 Ignacio Perez T. 5 months ago on Google • 28 reviews
    I was unaware of it, and, being a gynecologist and surgeon, I have learned that the first surgery with anesthesia was performed in Boston. (With Ether) hence the name and tribute to the monument. Next to the right of the Washington Monument

  • 5/5 Ben M. 5 months ago on Google • 8 reviews
    Wake up and smell the ether. This monument is a delight and has many aspects to appreciate, including compelling depictions of persons in pain and their euphoria upon receiving the sweet ether. A nice compliment to the tranquility of the garden.

  • 5/5 Jen D. 10 years ago on Google
    We have a monument to the invention of ether. That's how cool Boston is.

  • 5/5 Faizul H. 5 years ago on Google
    Historical place for begining of modetn anesthesia

  • 4/5 Will K. 5 years ago on Google
    This is a small statue in Boston public gardens. There is not much to see here except for a few plaques on the statue, but I would recommend the gardens (and the Boston common).

  • 3/5 Viacheslav F. 8 years ago on Google
    Not so exited

  • 5/5 Emmett H. 2 years ago on Google
    An entire monument dedicated to getting high? Heck yeah

  • 5/5 Greg S. 5 years ago on Google
    The ducks are very friendly and they have the fattest squirrels I've ever seen

  • 4/5 Doug P. 6 years ago on Google
    Nice corner of the park. Peaceful.

  • 5/5 Bayoan M. 6 years ago on Google
    Nice area to relax.

  • 5/5 Bobby T. 6 years ago on Google
    Great monument

  • 5/5 William C. 2 years ago on Google
    very pretty monument as you enter into the park, we came from Acorn Street area.

  • 4/5 Jim B. 4 years ago on Google
    Aside from presumably being the statue that Robert Lowell references in his poem on the Public Garden (“inside the basin of a fountain where the heads of four stone lions stare and suck on empty faucets”) this statue, a testament to pain and it’s management, is fascinating from the top to the base.

  • 5/5 mir09 c. 5 years ago on Google
    (Translated by Google) Fountain!) (Original) Фонтанчик!)

  • 1/5 Stephen M. 11 months ago on Google • 2 reviews
    MGH was NOT first! They were just the first to publish. Crawford Long in Georgia was the first to use ether as an anesthetic during surgery.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍


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