{"nrhp_refnum":"89001506","name":"Waltham Gas Light Company","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2 Cooper St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waltham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.37201000400006,"lon":-71.2332281439748,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An industrial complex at 2 Cooper Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, made up of brick, wood-frame and metal buildings of one to two stories. The oldest parts date to the company's founding in the 1850s.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the oldest utilitarian/industrial complex on Waltham's South Side. The company, incorporated in 1853, kept pace with the city's growth, and its directors included prominent 19th-century citizens. The plant is also an example of a small-scale industrial works that evolved from the mid-19th to the early 20th century.","narrative":"Located at 2 Cooper Street beside the Charles River in Waltham, this rambling industrial complex began as a gas works. The Waltham Gas Light Company was incorporated in 1853 and first supplied gas to customers in October 1854. The oldest buildings are a pair of brick gable-roofed structures with round gable windows and recessed brick panels. A long south wall from about 1854 to 1874 has corbeled brickwork, pilasters and segmental window openings, many still holding original 12/12 wood sash. An electric light plant was added in 1886, and by 1887 four large gasometers stood on the site. The company ceased operations in 1909, when its gas business went to the Newton and Watertown Gas Company and its electric business to Boston Edison. The plant was later sold to the Waltham Bag and Paper Company, which still made paper bags there in 1984. It was listed as the oldest industrial complex on Waltham's South Side and for its evolving small-scale plant.","period_of_significance":"1853-early 1900s","architect_builder":"R.P. Davis (credited with construction of the company's buildings)","architectural_style":"Utilitarian","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"General condition good; the plant continues to manufacture paper bags as of 1984, and the form lists its present use as industrial.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.884272-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/62/7922/63792262/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001506.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001506/8e9fe4c4de-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001506/8e9fe4c4de-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown authorUnknown author","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WalthamGasCompany.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown authorUnknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WalthamGasCompany.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792262","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltham_Gas_Light_Company","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715973"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/waltham-gas-light-company-89001506/"}