{"nrhp_refnum":"83004192","name":"Metropolitan Edison Building","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"412 Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.33649958800004,"lon":-75.92910828199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-10-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 12-story office tower with a 1956 five-story addition at the corner of Washington Street and Madison Avenue in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1926-1927 as the home office of the Metropolitan Edison Company.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is tied to the economic growth of the electric industry in Reading and eastern Pennsylvania, and that it is the only remaining structure of its kind in the city linked to that industry. It is also described as Reading's only example of the 'pattern' office building built for a New York holding company, and as one of the city's best-preserved and most finely finished commercial buildings of its period.","narrative":"Built in 1926-1927 for the Metropolitan Edison Company, this twelve-story office tower at Washington Street and Madison Avenue in Reading rises about 154 feet, with a limestone base, brick shaft and terra cotta top. Its skeletal steel frame uses about 14 pounds of steel per square foot, roughly twice common practice at the time. The interior public rooms have marble walls, bronze elevator doors and ceilings finished in 14 karat gold leaf. The building is significant because it recalls the growth of the electric industry in Reading, a city where the company began in 1883 with a dynamo and an arc-lamp demonstration. It is also regarded as the city's only example of the 'pattern' office design used by General Gas and Electric, a New York holding company, across its utilities. The tower was the city's tallest building until 1930. A 1956 five-story addition was linked to the tower so the two operate as one unit. The tower was later used by insurer American Casualty and CNA, and it was turned over for redevelopment in 1982.","period_of_significance":"1900-1926","architect_builder":"A. Heilman & C. E. Stienmetz (architects); W. S. Barstowe Co. (builder)","architectural_style":"Neo-Classical commercial style, described as a 'pattern' office building","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Later addition completed in 1956; the Met-Ed offices moved out in 1954 and the building was turned over to the City of Reading for redevelopment in 1982.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.694275-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/83004192.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004192/f34fbcbec6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004192/f34fbcbec6-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metro_Edison_Reading.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metro_Edison_Reading.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997924","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Edison_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6825080"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/metropolitan-edison-building-83004192/"}