{"nrhp_refnum":"12000180","name":"General Electric Specialty Control Plant","other_names":["VDHR File Number 136-5055"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1 Solutions Way","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waynesboro (Independent City)","county":"Waynesboro","state":"VA","lat":38.09309836850005,"lon":-78.8699792280824,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-03-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Communications","Engineering","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 25.5-acre industrial campus in northeast Waynesboro, Virginia, built 1953-1955 and expanded in 1960. It includes a 340,000-square-foot brick-and-metal plant, entry drive, water tower, water tank, construction shed and a ca. 1927 airplane hangar.","why_significant":"The plant was a major local employer and a site of electronics innovation, including equipment for military aircraft and space vehicles and early computer equipment. It is also linked to Dr. Louis T. Rader, who led the plant and spoke publicly against Virginia's massive resistance to school integration. In 1969 the plant introduced the Terminet 300, the first electronic device to transmit data between remote computers.","narrative":"This 25.5-acre campus in northeast Waynesboro, Virginia, was built by General Electric between 1953 and 1955 for its Specialty Control Department and expanded in 1960. The main building pairs a two-story red brick office wing with a large metal-clad factory wing, and the original entry drive, water tower, water tank, construction shed and a ca. 1927 hangar from the earlier Valley Airport remain. Inside, modular office partitions, a cafeteria, an auditorium and hand-painted signs survive. The plant brought more than 140 families from Schenectady, New York, and became one of the city's largest employers. Its engineers developed equipment for military aircraft, relays linking spacecraft with ground control, and numerical controls for machine tools. Plant head Louis T. Rader also campaigned for reopening Virginia's public schools during massive resistance, and his team released the Terminet 300 data terminal in 1969. The property was listed for these contributions at the local level.","period_of_significance":"1927; 1953-1969","architect_builder":"Whitman, Requardt & Associates, Baltimore, MD (architect); J. A. Jones Construction Company, Charlotte, NC (builder)","architectural_style":"Other: Industrial Vernacular","criteria":["A","B"],"status_note":"Former General Electric campus; the form lists current functions as office building and commercial warehouse/storage. The hangar has been used for storage since the 1950s.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.490511-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/87/6840/41684087/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/12000180.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000180/e263ea22b3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000180/e263ea22b3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Philip N. Wheeler","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_Electric_plant,_Waynesboro_VA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Philip N. Wheeler</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:General_Electric_plant,_Waynesboro_VA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41684087","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Electric_Specialty_Control_Plant","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16981739"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/waynesboro/general-electric-specialty-control-plant-12000180/"}