Marietta Electric Company Dedicates New Building

The Marietta Daily Times, July 16, 1956

The new $100,000 all-electric headquarters of the Marietta Electric Company will be opened to the public August 2 after an appropriate dedication program. The local utility will move all of its operations now located at 309 Putnam Street to the new building after the dedication and will be open for business on August 6.

The handsome brick building has been under construction for several months. The business property replaces a 100-year old residence that was known as the Nye property. To retain the pleasant character of Fourth Street, the new power company building was built back on the lot to the present property lines, and the ornamental ironwork from the Nye property porch was restored and is being used on the electric company porch.

The headquarters of the Marietta Electric Company, constructed at 309 Fourth Street in 1956, was later used as offices for the Washington County Sheriff's Department. The ornamental ironwork was preserved from the Nye home that originally stood on the site.

The ornamental ironwork originally enhanced the house owned by Rufus R. Dawes in 1865. It was later the home of James and Mary Franks Nye, 309 Fourth Street. A descendant of Marietta pioneers Ichabod Nye and Minerva Tupper Nye, Katherine Parr Nye (1868-1951) was the last of the Nye family to live here.

As might be expected in an electric company headquarters, the new building is all-electric. In fact, it is Marietta's first all-electric building. Heating and cooling of the new building will be with a heat pump. Other features of the all-electric building will be an electrically heated entrance walk and porch (for winter's snow and ice); an all-electric demonstration kitchen, modern glare-free and shadow-free lighting, an appliance service center, and a customer's parking lot in the rear of the building.

The building is of modern steel and concrete construction. The ceilings are of acoustical tile and the lighting is fluorescent, except for a few specialized applications of incandescent fixtures.

On the basement level in the new building will be the appliance service shops and the appliance storage area. F. M. Chichester and Herbert Bailey will have their offices in this area.

On the first floor level will be the display areas for new appliances, the new all-electric demonstration kitchen, the cashier's office, and other offices of the organization. Home Economist, Sales Clerk Delores Rowley, Cashier Mrs. Dorothy Hue, Bookkeeper Gloria Turrill and Accountant Glen Simonton will have their offices on the first floor.

On the second floor level will be the office of Manager H. L. McMillen, and of commercial and sales representative R. K. Nelson, and of F. B. Felker, area development and new business; Wayne Morgenstern, residential representative; John Armor, estimator; Charles Shears, meter reader; and Charles Davis, collector.

The dedication on August 2 will be followed by an open house from 2 pm to 9 pm on August 3. The day following the open house will be used as a moving day by the electric company to transfer everything from the old building at 309 Putnam, to the new building at 309 Fourth Street.

For those who are historically-minded, it might be pointed out that this move to the new building is being made in the 60th anniversary year of the Marietta Electric Company. It was founded in 1896 by Nelson Moore, Andrew L. Gracey, John Kaiser, J. S. H. Torner, W. H. H. Jett, D. T. McEvoy and H. E. Smith.