Metropolitan District Commission Pumping House
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The Metropolitan District Commission Pumping House is a historic water
pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as well drilling, drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastru ...
, adjacent to
Spot Pond Spot Pond is a lake in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The pond is within the Middlesex Fells Reservation, a Massachusetts state park. It is almost entirely located within the boundaries of Stoneham, Massachusetts. Spot Po ...
in the
Middlesex Fells Reservation Middlesex Fells Reservation, often referred to simply as the Fells, is a public recreation area covering more than in Malden, Medford, Melrose, Stoneham, and Winchester, Massachusetts. The state park surrounds two inactive reservoirs, Spot ...
, on Woodland Road in
Stoneham, Massachusetts Stoneham ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, nine miles (14.5 km) north of downtown Boston. Its population was 23,244 at the 2020 census. Its proximity to major highways and public transportation offer convenient access to Bos ...
. Built in 1901 by the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), it is one of Stoneham's finest examples of Renaissance Revival architecture. The building (along with an adjacent gatehouse) was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1984, and included in the
Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District The Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by Pond St., Woodland Rd., I-93, and MA 28 in Stoneham and Medford, Massachusetts. It encompasses a portion of the Middlesex Fells Reservation, a state par ...
in 1990.


Description and history

Spot Pond was designated as the public water supply for Melrose, Malden, and Medford in 1870, with a dam at its southern end enlarging a natural body of water. In the 1890s it was made a centerpiece of the Middlesex Fells Reservation, and about 1900 its water supply function was taken over by the MDC. This Romanesque Revival building was designed by
Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge was a successful architecture firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, operating between 1886 and 1915, with extensive commissions in monumental civic, religious, and collegiate architecture in the spirit and style of Henry ...
and completed in 1901, as part of a general expansion of water service in the area, and was placed on the former summer estate of Charles Copeland. 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 In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...
were lost, replaced by the present asphalt shingle hip roof. 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 The Mystic Water Works, also called the Mystic Pumping Station, is a historic water works at Alewife Brook Parkway and Capen Street in Somerville, Massachusetts. Built in 1862–65 by the city of Charlestown (since annexed to Boston), it is a ...
in
Somerville Somerville may refer to: *Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford Places *Somerville, Victoria, Australia * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia * Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...
. These engines were replaced between the late 1920s and 1950s with large diesel engines. Spot Pond has been relegated to emergency service by the
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) is a public authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that provides wholesale drinking water and sewage services to certain municipalities and industrial users in the state, primarily in th ...
, successor to the MDC. The pumping station now delivers water to area communities from a covered tank elsewhere in the reservation.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Stoneham, Massachusetts This is a list of properties and historic districts in Stoneham, Massachusetts, that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The locations of National Register properties and districts (at least for all showing latitude and long ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts This is a listing of places in Middlesex County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. With more than 1,300 listings, the county has more listings than any other county in the United Stat ...


References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Stoneham, Massachusetts Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Water supply pumping stations on the National Register of Historic Places Water in Massachusetts Infrastructure completed in 1901 National Register of Historic Places in Stoneham, Massachusetts Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts Renaissance Revival architecture in Massachusetts Water supply infrastructure in Massachusetts