{"nrhp_refnum":"90000129","name":"Middleborough Waterworks","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"E. Grove St. at Nesmasket River and Wareham St. at Barden Hill Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Middleborough","county":"Plymouth County","state":"MA","lat":41.88651605600006,"lon":-70.89562157399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-03-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Engineering","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A discontiguous waterworks district in Middleborough, Massachusetts, with an 1885 brick pumping station and well and a 1913 iron-removal plant beside the Nemasket River, plus a 1915 reinforced concrete water tower tank on Barden Hill.","why_significant":"The pumping station and well are an intact engineering complex designed by engineer Percy M. Blake, and the station is a well-detailed example of architect Ernest N. Boyden's work. The 1913 deferrization plant is among the earliest US water treatment plants for iron removal. The 1915 tower tank was the first reinforced concrete tank of its kind in Massachusetts and was held to be the world's highest at the time.","narrative":"Middleborough Waterworks is a two-part complex that supplied the town's water. Beside the Nemasket River stand an 1885 brick pumping station in the Queen Anne style, designed by Boston architect Ernest N. Boyden, and a stone- and brick-lined well designed by engineer Percy M. Blake. A 1913 deferrization plant, designed by Robert Spurr Weston, was added to remove excess iron from the water using aeration and coke filtration. On Barden Hill, a 162-foot reinforced concrete tower tank was built in 1915 to a design by George A. Sampson. The system was created after insurance rates rose sharply in 1883 because the town lacked water, and it helped the town grow and its industries expand. The iron-removal plant is among the earliest in the United States and still operates with few changes. The tower tank, the first of its material in Massachusetts, has been out of service since 1970 and has suffered concrete cracking and balcony collapse.","period_of_significance":"1885 - 1921","architect_builder":"Blake, Percy M.; Boyden, Ernest N.; Weston, Robert Spurr; Sampson, George A.; Faunce, Q. A.","architectural_style":"Queen Anne; No Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The pumping station complex's deferrization plant remains in service; the Barden Hill tower tank has been out of service since 1970 and is deteriorating, with portions of its balcony collapsed. Current functions list vacant/not in use alongside waterworks.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.589159-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/62/7965/63796562/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000129.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000129/855739e249-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000129/855739e249-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Middleborough_Waterworks_Pumping_Station._East_Grove_Street,_Middleborough_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</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:Middleborough_Waterworks_Pumping_Station._East_Grove_Street,_Middleborough_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796562","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middleborough_Waterworks","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6841714"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/plymouth-county/middleborough-waterworks-90000129/"}