Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• New Haven Gas Co. 1953-1967
• New Haven Gas Light Co. 1902-1953
• Southern Connecticut Gas Co. 1967-Present (2015)

Use (Historic)

• Rubber & Chemicals

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown.

Historic Narrative

The New Haven Gas Light Company was organized by a group of New Haven businessmen led by Yale professor Benjamin Stillman Jr. in 1847. The firm was the first public utility in New Haven and was among the first such organizations in the country. After electing William W. Boardman as president, the company moved to erect a bituminous coal gas plant on St. John Street and began laying out four miles of gas lines along St. John and State Streets to the city’s central business district. The first lamps were lit in November 1848, and by the early 1850s the company supplied gas for 189 streetlights and 1,252 private accounts. The New Haven Gas Light Company expanded rapidly during the second half of the 19th century. A new, larger coal-fired plant was erected on East Street in 1861, a new office building was constructed on Crown Street in 1873, and a carbureted water gas facility was built on the East Street property in 1885. While the proliferation of electric lighting during the 1890s initially threatened the viability of gas, the development of new applications, such as for cooking stoves, water heaters, and industrial machinery, began almost immediately. The New Haven Gas Light Company actively marketed one of these new uses by publishing informational booklets and conducting cooking classes for individuals interested in learning how to cook with gas. These efforts paid off and demand for gas continued to grow during the early-20th century. Improvements to the New Haven Gas Light Company’s East Street facility continued during the first decade of the 20th century. A new water-gas plant was built in 1902, and a new coal-gas facility was completed in 1906. By 1910, the property east of East Street and north of Chapel Street was developed with over a dozen buildings and support structures. Notable among these was a massive coal storage building that could house over 20,000 tons of gas coal. A rooftop conveyor system complete with coal cars and buckets moved the material from the storage building to a retort house where the gas conversion took place. The facility improvements continued through 1912 when a new office building designed by the notable New Haven architect, Leoni W. Robinson, was erected along Chapel Street west of the retort house. The New Haven Gas Light Company was at the forefront of the use of gas for home heating in 1926, and in 1927 the company began to supplement its gas supply with product processed in the New Haven-based Connecticut Coke Company’s plant on Stiles Street. Growth of the New Haven Gas Light Company’s capabilities continued through the 1940s when production was doubled and over $2 million was invested in the utility’s distribution system. In 1953 the business was reorganized as the New Haven Gas Company, and in 1967 the firm merged with the Bridgeport, Connecticut-based Bridgeport Gas Company to form the Southern Connecticut Gas Company. The latter entity continues to own the property located northeast of the intersection of East and Chapel Streets, however, the parcel’s use is presently limited to storage and only four buildings of the former complex stand.

Number of Existing Buildings

Four (4) freestanding buildings.

Dates of Construction

1902, ca. 1905, 1912, ca. 1915.

Architect

Leoni W. Robinson, New Haven

Builder

Empire Construction Co.

Building Type

• Administration
• Powerhouse

Architectural Description

The New Haven Gas Light Company facility consists of four freestanding buildings located on the north side of Chapel Street, at the northeast corner of Chapel Street’s intersection with East Street. The most prominent structure is the former ‘works office,’ which was designed by the notable New Haven architect, Leoni W. Robinson, and erected in 1912. The design of the building is an eclectic blend of the Italian Renaissance and Colonial Revival styles and is of red brick construction with terracotta tile roofs. The main block measures roughly 60’ x 46’ overall and stands two stories tall. It is of brick pier construction and has round-arched window openings with corbelled surrounds, terracotta keystones, and stone sills; corbelled window bays; and a widely overhanging and pedimented side-gabled roof with a stone cornice and brick corbels. A one-story, enclosed red brick entry portico is located on the east side of the building’s south (façade) elevation, and a two-story red brick stair tower is centered on the west elevation. Shed-roofed porches with heavy scroll-cut brackets, exposed rafter tails, and terracotta tile roofs are located on the east and north elevations, and a three-sided bay window with a hipped terracotta tile roof is centered on the north elevation. The roof is topped by a wood-frame clock tower with a tiered roof and brass bell. The tower is clad in copper sheathing and has clock faces on all four sides. The roofline is ornamented with copper modillions and corbels. The three remaining buildings were erected by the New Haven Gas Light Company in 1902, ca. 1905, and ca. 1915. The oldest of the three served as a power house built as part of a water-gas plant (the remainder demolished ca. 1980). The building stands roughly 60’ north of the office and is a two-story, 106’ x 45’ red brick building with a brownstone block foundation and watertable, segmental-arched window openings, brownstone window sills, a corbelled and denticulated cornice, and a flat roof. Large loading bays are located on the building’s south and east elevation, however, these are not original features. The ca. 1905 building stands along East Street roughly 400’ north of Chapel Street. It was erected as a governor house and is a one-story, 50’ x 27’ red brick block of pier construction with a brownstone foundation, round-arched window openings with corbelled surrounds and stone sills, denticulated and corbelled window bays, a stone cornice with brick corbels, gabled brick parapets with stone coping, and a front-facing gable roof. The ca. 1915 building is located 190’ north of the power house. It originally served as a laboratory and is a one-story, 20’ x 26’ red brick block with rectangular window and door openings, six-over-six double-hung sash, and a side-gabled roof.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Flat
• Gable

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Other: Terracotta Tile

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Fair, Deteriorated

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair to deteriorated condition. Many of the original windows in all four buildings have been removed. The office block has been overtaken by ivy and shows various signs of deterioration.

Specific Location

Two legal parcels (347 Chapel Street and 189 East Street) totaling 12.28 acres located on the north side of Chapel Street, at the northeast corner of Chapel Street’s intersection with East Street.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads
• Railroad
• Water (for Transport)

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 202/0556/00100. / Link →
• 178/0557/00100 / Link →

Acreage

12.28

Use (Present)

• Commercial
• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

10/08/2015

Bibliography

1. List of Connecticut Manufacturers, 1922, 1924, 1930, 1932.
2. Directory of Connecticut State Manufacturers, 1936, 1939.
3. Industrial Directory of Connecticut, 1947.
4. Register of War Production Facilities in Connecticut, 1951.
5. Map of New Haven County; Clark, Richard, 1859.
6. Atlas of New Haven County, Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1868.
7. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
8. Sanborn Map Company, 1901, 1911, 1923, 1950.
9. New Haven City Directory; Various editions.
10. History of the City of New Haven to the Present Time, 1887.
11. Leading Business Men of New Haven County; Mercantile Publishing Co., 1887.
12. A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County, 1920.
13. Carriages & Clocks, Corsets & Locks; New Haven Preservation Trust, 2004.
14. Hartford Courant, 1930.
15. New Haven Gas Co. Office Building, Historic Resource Inventory, New Haven Preservation Trust, 1999