{"nrhp_refnum":"82003494","name":"Rocky Mount Electric Power Plant","other_names":["Pearsall Machine Works,Inc."],"category":"building","location":{"address":"217 Andrews St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rocky Mount","county":"Nash County","state":"NC","lat":35.93655617400003,"lon":-77.80039539299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-07-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick former electric power plant on Andrews Street at the edge of downtown Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina. Built in 1901 as a one-story building, it was raised to two stories and given a rear addition around 1920.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the plant was the first electric generating station in Rocky Mount and was crucial to the town's early twentieth-century growth. It is also associated with contractor David J. Rose, a prominent local builder responsible for much of Rocky Mount's early built environment. The form describes it as an early example of brick commercial construction in the town.","narrative":"Brick power station on Andrews Street at the edge of downtown Rocky Mount, built in 1901 as a one-story building and raised to two stories around 1920. Contractor David J. Rose built it to house the town's first electric generating plant, and electric lights came on across Rocky Mount on January 1, 1902. Its hand-made brick walls are laid in common bond, and large arched openings at the east and west ends were used to unload coal from a railroad sidetrack that ran into the yard. It is regarded as an early example of brick commercial construction in the town, and it reflects the early twentieth-century rise of Rocky Mount as a commercial and transportation center in a largely rural region where few residents had electricity. Rose's firm erected much of the town's early built environment, and he was known throughout eastern North Carolina. A new plant on the Tar River replaced this one around 1912, and the building has since housed a machine shop.","period_of_significance":"1901","architect_builder":"David J. Rose, Contractor","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","B"],"status_note":"Condition marked good; in use as a machine shop.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:41.748761-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/20/7215/47721520/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/82003494.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003494/21616a316d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003494/21616a316d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rocky_Mount_Electric_Power_Plant.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rocky_Mount_Electric_Power_Plant.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721520","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mount_Electric_Power_Plant","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20745489"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/nash-county/rocky-mount-electric-power-plant-82003494/"}