{"nrhp_refnum":"84003512","name":"Lee Tire and Rubber Company","other_names":["Lee Park"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1100 Hector St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Conshohocken","county":"Montgomery County","state":"PA","lat":40.07636168500005,"lon":-75.28774024672416,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-08-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Invention"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An industrial complex of tire manufacturing buildings on the bank of the Schuylkill River at the east end of Conshohocken, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, built largely from 1909 onward. Its centerpiece is a four-story reinforced concrete administration building designed by William Steele in 1909.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the plant marks the coming of age of automated manufacturing of automobile tires and was an important business of the Lee company, which became one of the giants of its industry. It also argues the complex is an exceptional work of industrial architecture by William Steele, whose administration building and separated factory layout express the manufacturing process and became a regional landmark.","narrative":"Along a bend of the Schuylkill River at the east end of Conshohocken stands a sprawling tire plant built from 1909 onward. Its most visible building is a four-story reinforced concrete administration block designed by William Steele in 1909, with end and central towers and a large clock replacing the original mansard roof. Behind it, a series of connected one- and two-story factory buildings, many with exposed steel H-section columns and brick piers, follow the stages of production from rubber grinding and mixing through vulcanizing to molding. A medieval-style water tower with lancet windows also survives at the site. The plant is regarded as an important example of automated tire manufacturing. J. Ellwood Lee founded the company after earlier success with a bandage and splint business in the same town, and the Lee Puncture Proof Pneumatic Tire was among its best-known products. The complex is also valued as a major industrial architectural work and a landmark for the surrounding region.","period_of_significance":"1909-1939","architect_builder":"William Steele (architect/builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The original water tank was removed and the central tower's mansard was replaced by a clock; the form describes the plant's later use by Goodyear, and the original users have left.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:34.015747-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/84003512.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003512/08ea03b6c4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003512/08ea03b6c4-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lee_Tire_Conshohocken_PA.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:Lee_Tire_Conshohocken_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995142","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Tire_and_Rubber_Company","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6515294"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/montgomery-county/lee-tire-and-rubber-company-84003512/"}