{"nrhp_refnum":"02000633","name":"New Bedford Gas and Edison Light Complex","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"180 MacAuthur Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Bedford","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.63036450000004,"lon":-70.9198654699886,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-06-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An industrial waterfront district of about 5.8 acres at 180 MacArthur Drive in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on the Acushnet River. It includes the 1916 Cannon Street Power Station, the 1856 Taber & Grinnell Iron Foundry, Eddy's Wharf and a mid-1940s filtering station.","why_significant":"The complex was the chief power generating facility for New Bedford and much of southeastern Massachusetts for much of the 20th century. It is significant at the local level under Criteria A and C. The power station, designed and built by Stone & Webster, is a monumental industrial building with Classical Revival character and a large turbine hall.","narrative":"Located on the Acushnet River waterfront in New Bedford, this 5.8-acre industrial complex grew around the Cannon Street Power Station, built in 1916 by Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation for the New Bedford Gas & Edison Light Company. The red-brick station, expanded several times through 1950, has a 390-foot turbine hall and a skylit roof monitor. Nearby stands the Taber & Grinnell Iron Foundry of 1856, a three-story granite building with Greek Revival influence, along with Eddy's Wharf, a filled wharf with a granite seawall, and a 1940s filtering station. By 1950 the plant supplied electricity to New Bedford, neighboring towns and nearly all of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the Plymouth area. It operated until 1992, when it was closed and stripped of much of its machinery. The district was listed for its role in regional power generation and for its industrial architecture, and a new use as an Oceanarium was planned.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation (power station, designer and builder)","architectural_style":"Classical Revival / Art Moderne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The power station closed in 1992 and was largely stripped of machinery. The site is currently part of an NSTAR utility facility, and plans were underway to locate an Oceanarium in the power station.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.126834-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/7945/63794510/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/02000633.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000633/172806ec5c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000633/172806ec5c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Bedford_Gas_and_Edison_Light_Complex,_New_Bedford_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Bedford_Gas_and_Edison_Light_Complex,_New_Bedford_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794510","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Bedford_Gas_and_Edison_Light_Complex","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7005462"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/new-bedford-gas-and-edison-light-complex-02000633/"}