{"nrhp_refnum":"96001356","name":"Municipal Power Plant","other_names":["Welhausen, Carl and Mary, Library"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"810 Front St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Yoakum","county":"DeWitt County","state":"TX","lat":29.28594660500005,"lon":-97.15141810199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-11-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story multi-colored brick municipal power plant at 810 Front Street in Yoakum, DeWitt County, Texas, built in 1931-1932 and now used as a public library.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a well-preserved local example of an early 20th-century industrial energy facility, with its open interior, overhead crane, iron trusses and clerestory. It also reflects Yoakum's early modernization and electrification, since the city built its own power plant without help from the Lower Colorado River Authority.","narrative":"Built in 1931-1932 on Front Street in Yoakum, Texas, this one-story brick building was the city's municipal power plant. Measuring about 48 by 80 feet and over 40 feet tall, it has multi-colored brick walls, a stepped front parapet, large metal-sash industrial windows and a gabled clerestory on a metal roof. Inside, an open floor, exposed iron trusses, brick archways and an overhead crane remain in place. Yoakum already had electricity from a private company, but its commissioners chose to build a municipal plant, working with Montgomery and Ward Engineers and Fairbanks, Morse and Company. The city acted well before the Lower Colorado River Authority became its power supplier in 1938. The plant later served as a backup source and then as the city machine shop from 1964 to 1989. It was adapted as the Carl and Mary Welhausen Library in 1990 with only a small added rear window. It was listed for its architecture as a local example of an early industrial energy facility.","period_of_significance":"1931-1932","architect_builder":"Montgomery and Ward Engineers, Wichita Falls (architects); Fairbanks, Morse and Company, Dallas (builders); F.O. Crawford, Yoakum (builder)","architectural_style":"Other: Industrial","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Converted to the Carl and Mary Welhausen Library; described as in excellent condition and retaining a high degree of historic integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.821816-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/87/9717/40971787/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/96001356.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001356/093fa63baf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001356/093fa63baf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"25or6to4","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Municipal_Power_Plant,_Yoakum,_Texas.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">25or6to4</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:Municipal_Power_Plant,_Yoakum,_Texas.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100004095","name":"Yoakum Commercial Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/yoakum-commercial-historic-district-100004095/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971787","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110001848"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/dewitt-county/municipal-power-plant-96001356/"}