English Station

English Station, the vacant hulk of a building setback from Grand Avenue on Ball Island between Wooster Square and Fair Haven, once provided the city of New Haven with electricity. In the early 20th century, barges and trains conveniently delivered coal to the former power plant to generate electricity. Since 1992, when English Station was completely deactivated, this artifact of New Haven's industrial heritage has sat contaminated without any clear plan for re-use.

1640s–mid 1800s(?) – Allen Ball and his descendants

1860s–1890 – L.W. Sperry Lumber Company

1890–2000 – United Illuminating Company (UI), which was known as New Haven Electric Light Company until 1899

2000–2009 – Quinnipiac Energy

2009–2019 – Evergreen Power LLC and Asnat Realty

2019–present – Haven River Properties and Paramount View Millennium

1641 – Allen Ball, a farmer working for New Haven religious leader and co-founder John Davenport, receives the site on which English Station now sits following a deed from his brother-in-law. The land becomes known as Ball Island.

1641-1830s – Ball Island is largely avoided due to constant flooding and muddiness.

1830s-1860s – Grass begins to be harvested from the land.

1860s – L.W. Sperry Lumber Company, located adjacent to the island, assumes ownership of the Island and uses it as a lumber yard.

1890 – New Haven Electric Light Company purchases Ball Island from L.W. Sperry Lumber Company, and constructs a masonry power house along Grand Avenue.

1894 – New Haven Electric builds a one-story brick building on the island for $7,000.

1903 – The newly formed United Illuminating Company (UI) constructs a one-story addition on Ball Island.

1910 -1912 – Architects at Palmer and Townsend design an addition, a boiler house, and steam stacks for UI.

1914 – Architect H.R. Westcott designs a new brick power station on behalf of UI at the cost of $90,000.

1916-1921 – Westcott and Mapes build additions, fireproof, and install plant equipment in the new power station.

1927 (Sept. 13th) – Contractors lay the foundation for a new electric power station at the cost of $150,500.

1927-1937 – Construction in progress on new English Station facility.

1940-1947 – Alterations made to power house.

1951 – Installation of corrugated asbestos siding.

1968 – Blocked up 14 windows with concrete.

1970 – UI constructs three propane tanks and foundations on site.

1992 – UI places the site on "deactivated reserve" due to cost inefficiency.

2001 – Installation of temporary outdoor meter for 100A service to office trailer.

2013 – Installation of CCTV monitoring on site.

The power plant was named for James English, a former president of the United Illuminating Company (UI), which formed in 1899 through the consolidation of the New Haven and Bridgeport Electric Companies. English Station burned coal until 1960, and subsequently switched to residual fuel oil. In 1974, UI built Harbor Station in the East Shore, converting English station into a “peaking unit,” a station used only during times of peak demand. It was placed on “deactivated reserve” in 1992 due to the cost inefficiency of producing electricity on the site. Because of an energy-restructuring act, UI was required to sell off all its energy assets and transferred ownership of the plant in 2000 to Quinnipiac Energy, a move that cost UI $4.25 million (New Haven Independent, 2009). The ownership of the power plant would change hands again, this time to Evergreen Power LLC. Evergreen hired Grant McKaye, a Utah-based industrial demolition company, to knock down the building by early 2012. However, the company found carcinogens known as PCBs discovered in the oil produced by English Station, halting plans for the plant’s demolition and inspiring scrutiny toward the plant itself. Regulators asserted that Evergreen’s current salvage operations could be releasing even more hazardous material on the site. Evergreen, realizing that it might not get permission to dismantle the plant due to legal and environmental concerns, stopped working with McKaye. In 2011, Robert Smuts, a city spokesman, outlined New Haven’s priorities regarding the site: “first and foremost to make sure there is no active health or other public safety issue with the site. Two, making sure there isn’t a mess an LLC goes off and walks away from, leaving the city with a million dollar price tag. Third, finding a productive reuse of the property” (New Haven Independent, 2011). While Smuts assured that the city was actively involved in the cleanup, the presence of both asbestos and carcinogens made demolition of the site a complicated, costly, and dangerous process. Smuts and other officials conceded that the most environmentally safe course of action for the building may be to leave it as is, perhaps a cold comfort to Fair Haven and Wooster Square residents who would feel first-hand the effects of the plant’s pollutants. Additionally, several New Haven community groups have also pushed back against the demolition of the building due to its “eye-catching” nature and its history as a local landmark (New Haven Independent, 2011). As of 2013, UI claimed that given they have not owned the site in decades years, they are not responsible for the cleanup of the plant. After Evergreen and a secondary owner, Asnat Realty, defaulted on a loan in 2019, Haven River Properties acquired English Station through foreclosure (New Haven Register, 2019). As of 2025, English Station is still regarded as “in limbo,” with political, environmental, and architectural concerns in conflict over what the best course of action is for this deteriorating landmark and the hazardous chemicals it harbors.

English Station is located on Ball Island in the Mill River between Fair Haven and Wooster Square. Throughout much of the 20th century, this site provided proximity to both shipping and rail lines, while remaining relatively isolated from the commercial and residential areas it served.

The first power plant, constructed around 1900, is a “simple utilitarian structure” without much ornamentation. The 1927-1947 power plant, the more iconic structure with four chimneys designed by Westcott and Mapes, evokes “futuristic fantasies,” according to Elizabeth Mills Brown, who further describes, “reveries of medieval strongholds and electric minarets in a white cloud of smoke combine to produce one of the city’s most haunting architectural images.” (New Haven Historic Resources Inventory)

Elizabeth Mills Brown. “New Haven: A Guide to Architecture and Urban Design” (New Haven: Yale University, 1976) New Haven Building Department. “Building Permit Application for 510 Grand Avenue” New Haven Museum New Haven Historical Society New Haven Historic Resources Inventory Connecticut Historical Commission Melissa Bailey. Who's To Blame for English Station? "New Haven Independent” (August 3, 2009) Laurel Leff. Demolition Derailed; English Station in Limbo "New Haven Independent" (August 19, 2011) Luther Turmelle. Arguments Stall Cleanup of English Station Plant "New Haven Register" (July 10, 2013) Luther Turmelle. Former English Station power plant in New Haven gets new owners (January 7, 2019)