Written by a HistoryForge volunteer 12/2022:
What’s going on near the Madison Avenue bridge? For a while now there has been equipment working near the north east side of the Madison Avenue bridge. This work is related to an environmental cleanup.
The story of this cleanup takes us back to the 1850’s. In 1852 Elmira Gas Light Company built a plant for the manufacturing of gas on East Water street. These plants are known as Manufactured gas plants, using coal to produce gas. Manufactured gas was used to light streets and homes, and also to cook prior to the popularization of electricity and natural gas.
This manufacturing site was short-lived, and was in operation for less than 20 years. The Elmira Gas Light Company manufactured gas there until 1867, and kept a store of oil on the site until 1869. After this the manufacturing site sat empty before demolition some time before 1900.
During the 20th century, this spot was home to junk dealers such as Charles Rosenblatt and Nathan Alpert. Later, many people will remember the site as a car dealership. The last dealership at 510 E Water st closed in 1997. Since then the lot has been empty.
Throughout the years it would be hard to recognize this spot as a gas industry, except for the large underground fuel tank that remains under the north east corner of this lot. When closing the site 150 years ago, the tank was emptied and filled with dirt and fill material. Recently, the tank has been inspected and will be removed to keep any residual oil from leaking out. At 170 years old, it will finally be removed.
See the attached map images of the site throughout the years, and visit elmira.historyforge.net to see our map layers.
DEC Declaration Statement on the project: https://www.dec.ny.gov/.../remediation.../808025rod.pdf