{"nrhp_refnum":"87001898","name":"Smith's, Paul, Electric Light and Power and Railroad Company Complex","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"2 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Saranac Lake","county":"Franklin County","state":"NY","lat":44.324329257000045,"lon":-74.13213955799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-11-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-acre utility complex on the Saranac River at 2 Main Street in Saranac Lake, Franklin County, New York, made up of a 1909 brick powerhouse, a 1927 terra-cotta office building, a Main Street bridge and the Lake Flower dam and flume.","why_significant":"The complex illustrates the growth of one of the Adirondack region's earliest electric utility companies and the role of a private utility in the development of Saranac Lake. Its 1927 office building is a rare, distinctive example of Neoclassical architecture and one of only two village buildings clad in architectural terra cotta. The components show continuing adaptation and improvement through the 1930s.","narrative":"Beside the outlet of Lake Flower in Saranac Lake, a group of four linked elements records the village's electrical history: a brick powerhouse, a terra-cotta office building, a concrete bridge and a dam with its flume. The site had held a dam and sawmill since 1827 and later supplied power to a small electric company. Paul Smith bought that company in 1907, and a new brick powerhouse replaced the old mill in 1908. Smith's son Phelps added the three-story Neoclassical office building in 1927. It has pale gray terra-cotta cladding, fluted pilasters with Corinthian capitals, colored ceramic tile and a glazed frieze showing a city with power lines. The bridge was designed to complement it, and a Works Progress Administration dam followed in the late 1930s. Generating equipment was scrapped during World War II. The village acquired the buildings in 1986 and now uses the office building for municipal offices. The complex was listed for its utility history and architecture.","period_of_significance":"1908-c. 1937","architect_builder":"Undetermined (construction engineer John Sweeney's name appears on some office building drawings, but it is not known whether he was the architect)","architectural_style":"Neoclassical","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the Village of Saranac Lake (buildings and dam) and Franklin County (bridge). The office building is used as municipal offices, power generation has ceased, and the dam was rehabilitated in 1986-1987.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:44.629539-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/87001898.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001898/8acd8df344-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001898/8acd8df344-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Mwanner","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Smith%27s_Electric_Light_and_Power_and_Railroad_Company,_Saranac_Lake,_NY.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Mwanner</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:Paul_Smith%27s_Electric_Light_and_Power_and_Railroad_Company,_Saranac_Lake,_NY.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"93001451","name":"New York Central Railroad Adirondack Division Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/new-york-central-railroad-adirondack-division-historic-district-93001451/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317842","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Smith%27s_Electric_Light_and_Power_and_Railroad_Company_Complex","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14707169"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/franklin-county/smiths-paul-electric-light-and-power-and-railroad-company-complex-87001898/"}