Gasholder house

A gasholder house is a type of structure that was used to surround an iron gas holder, also known as a gasometer, in which coal gas was stored until it was needed. There are approximately a dozen of these structures—most constructed of brick in the latter-half of the 19th century—that still stand in the United States. Some examples still stand in Europe as well.

Oberlin Gasholder House in Ohio

Description

Before the 1870s, most iron gasholders were constructed without a building structure, but following practices already common in New England, gasholders houses were adopted in New York. Additionally, gasholder houses were constructed in England as early as 1825, although the mild climate made them less of an advantage.

Gasholder houses were built to protect the iron gas holder from the elements, and enabled it to be built from thinner plates. A gasholder house provided a number of advantages:

  • Provides a way to withstand the wind, and the forces on the thinner iron gasholder.
  • Avoids snow loads on the top of the holder, and icing of the guides that controlled the vertical movement of the gasholder.
  • Prevented the freezing of water in the pit around the gasholder that provides the seal to the gasholder, thus preventing the loss of gas.
  • There is also some belief that a gasholder house allayed fears about explosion from the stored gas.

The gasholder house also provides economic advantage by reducing the condensation of gas in cold weather, and provided an attractive architectural element of the gas complex.

There are approximately a dozen known gasholder houses still standing in the United States, with the Troy Gas Light Company structure in Troy, New York, being one of the largest remaining structures of this type.[1]

Extant gasholder houses

United States
Name Location Built Current usage
Atlantic MillsProvidence, Rhode Islandunknownoffice
Attleborough Falls Gasholder Building†North Attleborough, Massachusetts1882privately owned
Baltic Mill Gasholder HouseSprague, Connecticutc. 1874vacant
Batavia Gasholder HouseBatavia, New Yorkc. 1855utility company storage
Concord Gas Light Company Gasholder House†South Main Street
Concord, New Hampshire		1888vacant
Concord Gas Light Company Gasholder HouseLibrary Road
Concord, New Hampshire		1880prep school post office
Gasholder House at Lockwood MillWaterville, Maineunknownoffice / commercial space
Northampton Gasholder HouseNorthampton, Massachusetts1856office / commercial space
Oberlin Gas Lighting Company Gasholder HouseOberlin, Ohio1889vacant
Roxbury/South Boston Gasholder BuildingBoston, Massachusetts1868–1873hotel
Saratoga Gas, Electric Light and Power Company Complex†Saratoga Springs, New Yorkunknownutility company storage
Troy Gas Light Company†Troy, New York1873office / light industrial storage
Woonsocket Gasholder HouseWoonsocket, Rhode Islandc. 1865office

† Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Source:[2]

Elsewhere

References
  1. "Historic American Engineering Record, Troy Gas Light Company, Gasholder House". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  2. The Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. (August 2017). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Concord Gas Light Company Gasholder House" (PDF). New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. p. 23. Retrieved January 14, 2021 – via NH.gov.

Further reading
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