Hobbs Brook Basin Gate House
Why it's listed
Beside the Winter Street dam in Waltham sits a small square gate house of rock-faced granite, linked to the dam by a short wooden bridge. Built about 1897-1898, it holds the sluice gates for the Hobbs Brook Storage Basin, a reservoir of roughly 1,000 acres that supplies water to the City of Cambridge. The structure has a granite platform and a one-story body with tall, narrow arched openings edged in rock-faced blocks, set against hammered granite upper walls. A flat roof with a bracketed cornice and copper balustrade completes it. Waltham builder Marshall N. Stearns carried out the work, and he also built the Stony Brook Basin Gate House in Weston. The reservoir was built in 1894-1898 and required Cambridge to buy forty-three farms and parts of farms. This gate house is the only piece of the system within Waltham and the city's only late 19th century reservoir gate house. It remains unaltered, in good condition, and still in service.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues it is the only part of the Cambridge water system lying wholly within Waltham and the only late 19th century reservoir gate house in the city. It is described as an excellent, well-preserved example of a water supply gate house and a unique architectural type in Waltham. It is argued to meet criteria A and C.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 89001524, listed September 28, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Off Winter St. at mouth of Hobbs Brook, Waltham |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | September 28, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89001524 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Architect / builder | Marshall N. Stearns (Waltham builder) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition is stated as good, with no alterations and not moved. The Hobbs Brook Basin continues to serve Cambridge as a water source. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 42.39875, -71.27317 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 89001524.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5874862
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.