{"nrhp_refnum":"89001537","name":"Waltham Gas and Electric Company Generating Plant","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"96 Pine St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waltham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.37090403600007,"lon":-71.23294118099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An electric generating plant at 96 Pine Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, built between 1900 and 1909 of poured, scored concrete by the Waltham Gas and Electric Company. The architect is unknown.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an interesting, essentially intact example of an early 1900s electric generating station. It meets criteria A and C. It reflects the growth of electric power supply in Waltham and continues the site's long association with the illuminating industry.","narrative":"Built between 1900 and 1909 at 96 Pine Street in Waltham, this concrete building began as an electric generating station for the Waltham Gas and Electric Company. Its poured, scored concrete walls give it a boxy, rusticated look that recalls a truncated Italianate palazzo. The nine-bay street facade is symmetrical, with tall first-story windows aligned with square second-story openings, each topped by a splayed lintel. All the window openings have since been filled with concrete. The plant reflects Waltham's growing demand for power. The gas company added an electric plant in 1886, began supplying a street railway in 1890, and expanded as industry grew. The company sold the plant to Boston Edison in 1909, and in 1917 the steam apparatus was retired and the building became a substation. It is still an electric substation. It stands near the older brick gas company buildings and is judged essentially intact.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Early 20th century utilitarian","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition is described as good. It was converted to an electric substation in 1917, and the form lists its present use as an electric substation.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.911238-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/7916/63791610/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001537.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001537/b2fa529246-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001537/b2fa529246-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WalthamMA_WalthamGasAndElectricCompanyGeneratingPlant.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WalthamMA_WalthamGasAndElectricCompanyGeneratingPlant.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791610","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltham_Gas_and_Electric_Company_Generating_Plant","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7966611"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/waltham-gas-and-electric-company-generating-plant-89001537/"}