{"nrhp_refnum":"97000561","name":"Blake and Knowles Steam Pump Company National Register District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Bounded by Third, Binney, Fifth, and Rogers Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.36624696000007,"lon":-71.08340773399993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-06-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An industrial district of six brick and concrete manufacturing buildings on a single block in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, bounded by Third, Rogers, Fifth and Binney Streets. The buildings date from 1889 to 1918 and belonged to the Blake & Knowles Steam Pump Company.","why_significant":"The district is the only intact block of the former Blake & Knowles pump complex, which once covered about six acres. It is significant for its industrial history and for its architecture, with buildings of consistent scale, massing and materials from two building periods, 1889-1903 and 1917-1918. The company grew out of George F. Blake's pump inventions and a 1897 merger with the Knowles pump business.","narrative":"This one-block industrial district in East Cambridge preserves the last intact section of the Blake & Knowles Steam Pump Company plant. Six buildings, built between 1889 and 1918, occupy about 2.4 acres between Third, Rogers, Fifth and Binney Streets. They include the 400-foot-long #1 Machine Shop, the formally detailed Office Headhouse, a Smith Shop and Brass Foundry, the 1903 Erecting and Assembling Building, and two large machine shops from 1917 and 1918. The latter were the complex's first concrete buildings and used steel sash windows. The company began with George F. Blake's pump for clay pits in brickyards, and merged with the Knowles pump business in 1897. At its peak the plant covered six acres, but nearby buildings have been replaced or heavily altered. The surviving block keeps its massing, scale and brick and concrete materials, despite window replacements and a few additions. It was recognized for its role in local industry and for its representative industrial architecture.","period_of_significance":"1889-1946","architect_builder":"Aberthaw Construction Co.; Flint Building Construction Co. of Palmer, MA (builder of the #1 Machine Shop); L. H. Gager of Palmer, MA designed the Main Foundry, which lies outside the district","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Panel Brick; Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Properties are in fair condition with many minor alterations; the buildings have continued in manufacturing and combined office/industrial use, and a developer planned a rehabilitation of the block.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.917418-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/55/7959/63795955/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/97000561.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000561/2e238f2412-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000561/2e238f2412-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kendall_Boiler_and_Tank_Company_building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kendall_Boiler_and_Tank_Company_building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795955","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_and_Knowles_Steam_Pump_Company_National_Register_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4924516"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/blake-and-knowles-steam-pump-company-national-register-district-97000561/"}