The PECO Building

The PECO Building (HMFS2)

Location: Pottstown, PA 19464 Montgomery County
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Country: United States of America
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N 40° 14.622', W 75° 39.202'

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Historic Pottstown Walking Tour

On February 19, 1889, the Pottstown Light, Heat & Power Co., located on Queen St. west of Penn St., along the railroad tracks, brought electricity to Pottstown. That night, High St. was illuminated by a series of 2000 candlepower arc lights. The first private lamp was installed in the clothing store of A. Weitzenkorn & Sons at 145 High St. Local operation of the power plant continued until the Pottstown Light, Heat & Power Co. transferred its stock to the Philadelphia Suburban Gas & Electric Co. on March 19, 1910.

Almost immediately, the new company announced plans to build a new powerplant at this site, the first of its kind in our area. It was to be equipped with three Keeler water-tube boilers of 320 hp rated capacity each. Current from the new plant was officially turned on at the opening ceremonies on March 14, 1912. Until the late-1990's, the Philadelphia Electric Co. continued to use the building as a generation plant and substation.

In 2001, using funds from the Montgomery County "Revitalization Fund," the Borough purchased the site as a gateway to Riverfront Park. Today, the building has been identified in several planning projects including the "Pottstown Parks" plan, as well as the Pottstown Promenade project, as an important connecting node between High Street and Riverfront Park along the Schuylkill River. As an excellent example of adaptive reuse, the Schuylkill River Center is now the home of the Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area managed by the Schuylkill River Greenway Association.
—David R. Kerns & David Downs
Details
HM NumberHMFS2
Tags
Year Placed2002
Placed ByPECO Energy and Pottstown 250th Anniversary Committee
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, September 6th, 2014 at 3:41am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18T E 444427 N 4455010
Decimal Degrees40.24370000, -75.65336667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 40° 14.622', W 75° 39.202'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds40° 14' 37.32" N, 75° 39' 12.12" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)484, 610
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 140 College Dr, Pottstown PA 19464, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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