Lake Mattamuskeet Pump Station
Also known as: Mattamuskeet Lodge
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Why it's listed
Built between 1911 and 1913 at the junction of the Outfall Canal and three other drainage canals at Lake Mattamuskeet in Hyde County, North Carolina, this red brick pumping station once housed four steam-driven centrifugal pumps with Corliss engines and four boilers. Its 120-foot smoke stack and open interior of catwalks made it a striking industrial building. The plant was built by a corporation attempting to drain the lake bottom for farming, and it was considered the largest pumping plant in the world at that time. Engineers from other countries visited in the 1920s to study the drainage system. Crops grown on reclaimed lake bottom included corn, sweet potatoes, soybeans and rice. After the federal government acquired the lake as a wildlife refuge in 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps converted the building into a lodge in 1935-1936, when the pumps were removed and the smoke stack became an observation tower. The changes did not erase the building's original character.
Significance in brief: The pumping plant was considered the largest in the world at the time and was an engineering accomplishment admired by agricultural engineers. It represents an era when large corporations tried to drain and farm the lake bottom, and engineers and visitors from other countries came to study it in the 1920s. The building's original architectural character is said to have been retained despite later modifications.
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 80002849, listed May 28, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | E of Swanquarter, Swanquarter |
|---|---|
| County | Hyde County |
| Listed | May 28, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80002849 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Period of significance | 1900-1913 |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Engineering |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Converted to a three-story lodge by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935-1936 after the pumps and boilers were removed. |
| Acreage | 0.3 |
| Coordinates | 35.45194, -76.17466 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
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 80002849.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19864995
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.