Metropolitan District Commission Pumping House

Metropolitan District Commission Pumping House
Location Woodland Rd., Stoneham, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°27′21″N 71°5′27″W / 42.45583°N 71.09083°W / 42.45583; -71.09083Coordinates: 42°27′21″N 71°5′27″W / 42.45583°N 71.09083°W / 42.45583; -71.09083
Built 1906
Architect Shepley,Ruton, & Collidge
Architectural style Renaissance
Part of Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District (#89002249)
MPS Stoneham MRA
NRHP Reference #

84002747

[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP April 13, 1984
Designated CP January 18, 1990

The Metropolitan District Commission Pumping House is a historic water pumping station, adjacent to Spot Pond in the Middlesex Fells Reservation, on Woodland Road in Stoneham, Massachusetts. The Romanesque Revival building was designed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge and completed in 1901, as part of the Metropolitan District Commission's (MDC's) expansion of water service in the area. It is built of yellow brick with limestone trim. It has quoined corners, and features rusticated arched windows. It was extended with a side ell in 1923. In 1975 the building was extensively damaged by fire. Its tile roof and clerestory were lost, replaced by the present asphalt shingle hip roof.[2]

When built, the building housed three steam-powered engines capable of pumping 90 million gallons per day; one of these machines was moved here from the Mystic Pumping Station in Somerville. These engines were replaced between the late 1920s and 1950s with large diesel engines. The building (along with an adjacent gatehouse) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984,[1] and included in the Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District in 1990.[2] Spot Pond has been relegated to emergency service by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, success to the MDC. The pumping station now delivers water to area communities from a covered tank elsewhere in the reservation.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Staff (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "MACRIS inventory record and NRHP nomination for Metropolitan District Commission Pumping House". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, May 13, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.