Nela Park

Nela Park
Nela Park, Building 307
Nela Park is located in Ohio
Nela Park
Nela Park is located in the United States
Nela Park
LocationEntrance at 1975 Noble Rd., East Cleveland, Ohio 44112
Coordinates41°32′28″N 81°33′39″W / 41.54111°N 81.56083°W / 41.54111; -81.56083
Built1911-1924
ArchitectFrank E, Wallis
NRHP reference No.75001365[1]
Added to NRHP1975

Nela Park is the headquarters of GE Lighting, a Savant company,[2] and is located in East Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Nela Park is the first industrial park in the world, and was the site of most of the lighting breakthroughs of the last century.

The institute was first organized by entrepreneurs Franklin Terry and Burton Tremaine of the National Electric Lamp Company.[3] Development of the site was started in 1911 when the National Electric Lamp Association (NELA), formed by John Robert Crouse Sr, J.B. Crouse, and H.A. Tremaine in 1901,[4] was dissolved and absorbed into General Electric. It was the first industrial park in the world,[5] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The campus emulates a university setting, and the dominant architectural style is Georgian Revival. The 92-acre (370,000 m2) campus is home to GE's Lighting & Electrical Institute, which was founded in 1933. Each December, Nela Park features a world-famous Christmas lighting display, which culminates in a miniature version of the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C., designed by GE Lighting.

During World War I, the Chemical Corps had a research station at Nela.[6]

In 1921, Albert Einstein visits Nela Park with Ernest Fox Nichols.


  1. ^ "National Register of Historical Places – Ohio(OH), Cuyahoga County". National Register of Historic Places. Nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  2. ^ "GE Lighting sold to Massachusetts-based Savant Systems". WEWS. 2020-05-27. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  3. ^ "Nela Park". The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. June 27, 1997. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  4. ^ "J. Robert Crouse, Sr". Cromaine District Library. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
  5. ^ "History of Nela Park". General Electric Company. Archived from the original on November 27, 2011. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
  6. ^ The Story of the Development Division, Chemical Warfare Service. Gilman Printing Company. 1920.