Oneida Street Station

Also known as: East Wells Power Plant
108 E. Wells and 816 N. Edison Sts., Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Repurposed, this neoclassical revival building is listed on both the NRHP and is listed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark.

Photos

Overview Looking Northeast

The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company began running streetcars and interurban rail lines in 1890. Powerhouses, like this one, were built to supply power to the railroad. Excess power was sold on the market.

Oneida Street (now Wells Street) was one of the street car lines.

Photo taken by J.R. Manning

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Map

Coordinates:
+43.04102, -87.91139
43°02'28" N, 87°54'41" W

Quadrangle map:
Milwaukee

Description

The Oneida Street Powerhouse (also called the Wells Street Powerhouse) was originally built by The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company. T.M.E.R. & L.C. later evolved into Wisconsin Electric Power Company, which has evolved into WE Energies. The Electric Company operated a fleet of streetcars and interurban lines for many years, until interest in rail transit waned. The front of the building indicates that streetcars might have been housed in this structure at one time, but that has not been confirmed.

Wells Street was formerly known as Oneida Street.

TMER&LC began running streetcars in 1890, and power plants, such as this one, were built specifically to generate power for their rail lines. The company began to sell excess power, which was the basis of today's energy giant, WE Energies. Much steam power and heat is still used in downtown Milwaukee, through a network of steam lines that is still supplied by WE Energies.

This station saw the first experimentation with pulverized coal, a process that was widely disputed. After great success in producing electricity more efficiently, the process became widely accepted.

The power plant went offline in 1987 and was renovated into theaters. It is owned by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater Company and houses the Powerhouse Theater, Stiemke Theater, and Stackner Cabaret.

National Register information

Status: Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 1984
Reference number: 84000701
Architectural style: Late 19th and 20th Century Revival: Classical Revival
Areas of significance: Engineering; Architecture
Level of significance: National
Evaluation criteria: A - Event; C - Design/Construction
Property type: Building
Historic functions: Energy facility; Research facility
Periods of significance: 1900-1924; 1875-1899
Significant years: 1890; 1914; 1919
Number of properties: Contributing buildings: 2
Non-contributing buildings: 2
Non-contributing structures: 1

Update Log

July 15, 2011: Updated by J.R. Manning: Added Tag: National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark
June 25, 2011: New photos from J.R. Manning
June 24, 2011: Updated by J.R. Manning: Updated Description

Sources

J.R. Manning - Lugnuts969 [at] gmail [dot] com
American Society of Mechanical Engineers - ASME description of the power plant that qualified it as a National Historic Engineering Landmark
Wikipedia
National Register database - Reference number 84000701 (Search for documents)