Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Campbell Strussholm c.1920-1939
• Saybrook Yacht Yard 1939-1998
• Shore Line Electric Railway Co. 1910-c.1920

Use (Historic)

• Transportation
• Other: Power house

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown.

Historic Narrative

National Register nomination in process 11/2016; listed 6/2019. The Shore Line Electric Railway Company was chartered in 1905. It served New Haven to Guilford and Old Saybrook, with extensions to Ivoryton/Deep River and Stony Creek. Construction of the power house began in 1908 and was completed by 1910. The reinforced concrete structure and stack housed two Curtis steam turbines, three Bigelow-Hornsby boilers, switching equipment and auxiliary apparatus. It drew feed water from a reservoir about a mile to the west and condensing water from the Connecticut River. The generating station supplied 11,000 volts current to the Shore Line Electric Railway, the New London and East Lyme Railway and for operation of the Connecticut River Bridge. Sub-stations were located in Saybrook (7 miles from eastern terminus, see resource 2697) and Guilford (14 miles from western terminus, see resource 2698). Each of the sub-stations contained three converters, three transformers and switching equipment. At inception, the system consisted of twelve passenger cars, one box car locomotive and a snow plow. The main car barn, also reinforced concrete, was at Saybrook Junction, and housed offices, sub-station, machine shop, work shop and storage for twenty cars. The Guilford sub-station had storage space for four cars.

Number of Existing Buildings

One (1) primary block.

Dates of Construction

1908-1910

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Powerhouse

Architectural Description

Constructed entirely of reinforced concrete, including poured roof, projecting cornice, classically inspired large-scale entablature, and stack. The original window configuration consisted of multi-pane sash in each of the five bays on the ground and first floor levels on the north, east and south elevations, and smaller rectangular windows within the entablature, between the large decorative poured concrete brackets. A single story poured concrete undated addition is located along the west elevation of the building.

Exterior Material(s)

• Concrete

Structural System(s)

• Structural Concrete

Roof Form

• Flat

Roof Material

• Concrete Slab

Power Source

• Coal

Condition

n/a

Condition Notes

Some of the windows have been blocked in, and window openings on the east elevation have been largely reconfigured in size, including as garage bays, as well.

Specific Location

On eastern half of 3.25 acre parcel on the east side of Clark Road, just south of the intersection with Ferry Road, along the Connecticut River

Adjacent To

• Water (for Transport)

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 043/ 002 / Link →

Acreage

3.25

Use (Present)

• Commercial

Form Completed By

Renée Tribert

Date

April 2015

Bibliography

1. LeMonte, Lamar. 'Old Saybrook Trains and Trolleys' (Old Saybrook Historical Society, n.d.).
2. Sperry, A. William. 'The Shore Line Electric Railway' in Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting and Proceedings, Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers (CSCE, 1912).
3. Sanborn Insuance Atlases.