Pratt Street Power Plant
About this property
The Pratt Street Power Plant—also known as the Pier IV Power Plant, The Power Plant, and Pratt Street Station—is a historic former power plant located in Downtown Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Since its decommissioning in 1973, it has been redeveloped several times for other uses, including the short-lived Six Flags Power Plant theme park. The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. The structure is a 132-by-326-foot (40 by 99 m) complex of three buildings located at Pratt Street and Pier 4 at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The structures are brick with terra cotta trim and steel frame construction. It was built between 1900 and 1909 and is a massive industrial structure with Neo-Classical detailing designed by the architectural firm of Baldwin & Pennington. It was one of only 11 buildings in the zone of the Baltimore Fire of 1904 to survive that event. It served as the main source of power for the United Railways and Electric Company, a consolidation of smaller street railway systems, that influenced the provision of citywide transportation and opened up suburban areas of Baltimore to power its electric street railway in the city. It later served as a central steam plant for the Consolidated Gas, Electric Light and Power Company, a predecessor of the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company. The boilers were coal-fired, and the plant's location on the harbor allowed easy delivery of coal by ship. The location also provided access to cooling water for the condensers, with intake on one side of the pier and discharge on the other. The plant, with by-then obsolete equipment, was used sparingly until it was returned to service to meet the World War II production demand for electricity. Baltimore Gas & Electric finally ceased use of it in 1973. After the electric plant was retired from service, the building was vacant for several years. It was acquired by the City of Baltimore in 1977. The first phase of the city's redevelopment of the property converted a warehouse on the pier into a Chart House seafood restaurant. The power plant's coal hoist was removed in 1979. In January 1979, Charles Center-Inner Harbor Management, Inc., requested that developers submit proposals that would reuse the power plant building without modifying its exterior. Out of 11 proposals, the city selected the Omni Power House Hotel, which was to be designed by architect Moshe Safdie. The hotel plan was canceled in November 1980, because the developers could not afford the cost of strengthening the pier to support the increased weight of the redeveloped building.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Pratt Street Power Plant listed on the National Register?
Pratt Street Power Plant was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 8, 1987.
What type of historic resource is Pratt Street Power Plant?
Pratt Street Power Plant is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Pratt Street Power Plant?
The period of significance for Pratt Street Power Plant is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Pratt Street Power Plant?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Pratt Street Power Plant will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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