Chester Waterside Station of the Philadelphia Electric Company

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

The Chester Waterside Station of the Philadelphia Electric Company is a former generating station at 2501 Seaport Dr. in Chester, Delaware County, built 1916 to 1942 in the Beaux Arts and Classical Revival styles. John T. Windrim was its architect and William C. L. Eglin its engineer.

Why it's listed

It was listed in the National Register in 2007 under criterion C, with local significance in architecture, and it meets criteria consideration G. The nomination gives its period of significance as 1916 to 1942, when construction, authorized in 1916, continued.

Physical character

The station is built of brick with limestone over a concrete foundation and an asphalt roof, and its facade carries a rusticated base, colossal Tuscan column screens, and a pierced concrete frieze. A clear-span, barrel-vaulted Turbine Hall is joined by a Turbine Hall Annex, and the Screening House was demolished in 2002; the station was rehabilitated for multi-tenant office use in 2005.

Historical context

The nomination associates the station with the Philadelphia Electric Company, the Delaware County Electrical Company, and the Beacon Light Company; Philadelphia Electric was consolidated in 1902. The station was originally an energy facility and later served commerce and trade, and at the time of its listing it was a business property.