Built 1914 (1914) NRHP Reference # 85001021 Area 2 ha Added to NRHP 18 April 1985 | MPS Arlington MRA Opened 1914 Architectural style Romanesque architecture | |
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Location 51 Grove St., Arlington, Massachusetts Similar Spy Pond, Wellfleet Drive‑In Theater, Jefferson Cutter House, Highrock Church | ||
The Arlington Gaslight Company is an historic industrial complex on Grove Street in Arlington, Massachusetts. It is one the town's few large-scale examples of industrial architecture, built for a local fuel company in 1914. The three-building facility presently houses the town's public works department. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Description and history
The former Arlington Gas Company property consists of about 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) on the east side of Grove Street in central Arlington, and is bounded on the north by the former railroad right-of-way that now carries the Minuteman Bike Path. The largest surviving building, a power station occupying a significant portion of the back section of the property, is a prominent local example of Romanesque Revival architecture, with corbelled brick decoration on its cornices. Fronting on Grove Street are two smaller brick buildings, one originally serving as the gas company offices, and the other as a meter house.
The site's previous industrial use was for the Welch and Griffith saw factory, the first in the United States. This complex burned down in 1913. The complex was built in 1914 to house the Arlington Gas Company, which manufactured fuel for home use. It originally included a large storage tank, on top of which was emblazoned "ARLINGTON" and an arrow pointing north; this was one of the earliest known aids to aerial navigation, and was torn down in 1975. The complex now serves as the town's public works yard.