When Old Engine Company No. 12 was under construction in 1896, both sides of North Capitol Street were in rapid development. By then, Washington, DC, had outgrown its original boundaries and development pushed outside and even well beyond the outskirts of the original city lines. Along North Capitol Street and within the larger Bloomingdale and Eckington neighborhoods, developers constructed late-Victorian, Queen Anne style dwellings that catered to the city's burgeoning middle-class. Built contemporaneously with neighboring row homes, Old Engine Company No. 12 follows this design in the Dutch Revival style by architect Snowden Ashford (1866-1927). Vacated by the Fire Department in 1987, the firehouse was rented for several years by the Salvation Army. It then housed a restaurant. The site was being redeveloped when the historic building was damaged in a fire in December 2023. DC Inventory: May 25, 2006
National Register: June 6, 2007
]]>Erected in 1894, Old Engine Company No. 10 served the Stanton Park neighborhood, or the northern portion of Capitol Hill and the emerging suburban subdivisions of Trinidad and Ivy City. At that time, the area was sparsely developed with some modest homes. The construction of a firehouse at that time indicates the anticipation of future development; by 1903, the neighborhood had grown into a middle-class neighborhood, with more than half of its lots built upon with sizeable row homes. Old Engine Company No. 10 was designed by architect Leon Dessez (1858-1919), who was responsible for the design of eight of the city's firehouses—the largest number of firehouse commissions awarded to any one architect in the city. The two-story, red brick firehouse is a relatively ornate Queen Anne style of architecture, characterized by intricate brick and terra cotta work. The building is divided into two bays, defined by large apparatus doors on the first story and large arched window openings on the second story. Old Engine Company No. 10 served its immediate and larger community for more than forty years when a major restructuring of the DC Fire Department occurred, merging the company with Truck Company No. 13. Subsequently, the firehouse was vacated. Old Engine Company No. 10 was used for a time as a community center with small offices. Today, the firehouse is an apartment building. DC Inventory: January 24, 2008
National Register: November 19, 2008
]]>Old Engine Company No. 6 served as the first firehouse of the Metropolitan Hook and Ladder Company in Washington, DC. Built in 1862, the firehouse accommodated horses with heavy equipment. Old Engine Company No. 6 also responded to some of the city's earliest historic conflagrations, such as the Smithsonian Institution Castle (1865) and the U.S. Patent Office (1877). This firehouse reflects the professionalization of firefighters in DC. Since firehouses were private volunteer companies, local government hoped to quell rivalries between the forces. By an 1864 DC government act, the DC Fire Department consolidated stations to organize paid fire departments, transitioning from a volunteer force to a modern professional one. However, the DC Fire Department still had some volunteer staff. Old Engine Company No. 6 occupied the building for 95 years before its decommission in 1974; until that point, it was the oldest operating firehouse in DC. In 2012, the location reopened as the Sixth Engine Restaurant. The owners sold the restaurant in 2019 to The Pub and The People; they plan to keep the menu and vibe similar to Sixth Engine, serving craft beer and gastropub fare. DC Inventory: April 29, 1975
National Register: September 5, 1975
]]>Engine Company No. 29, also known as the Palisades firehouse, was the city’s first one-story firehouse and one of two prototype Colonial Revival firehouses dating from 1925. In that year, the fire department completed its conversion to all-motorized apparatus, enabling a more rapid response and necessitating fewer firehouses overall. As facilities grew larger, especially in outlying suburban areas, more land was available to spread the stations over a more convenient single floor. The design is among the most successful of Municipal Architect Albert L. Harris (1869-1934). Following neo-Georgian principles, the main block of the front-gabled brick building is symmetrically composed. Placed on either side in a secondary wing, the dormitories create a T-shaped plan. A four-story hose tower rises at the rear, balancing the design and creating an identifiable neighborhood landmark. DC Inventory: July 22, 2004
National Register: June 6, 2007
]]>Built in 1908 to accommodate both Engine Company No. 21 and Truck Company No. 9, the Lanier Heights Firehouse is still in operation to this day. Erected at the outskirts of the city in 1908, the firehouse was equipped with a chemical engine for use when water was unavailable. The new firehouse also received the city's longest hook and ladder truck to reach the multistory apartment buildings being contemporaneously erected nearby, like The Ontario. The design of the firehouse is attributed to Appleton P. Clark (1865-1955), whose name appears on the building drawings. However, based upon strong similarities with the nearby apartments, there could have been some collaboration between Clark and James G. Hill (1841-1913), the architect of The Ontario. At the time the firehouse's construction, The Ontario was among the few buildings in the immediate vicinity. While this collaboration is undocumented, there seems to be a conscious attempt to make the Spanish Colonial Revival firehouse compatible in style with The Ontario. Due to its deteriorating state, Engine Company No. 21 was slated for demolition in 1975. However, the neighborhood successfully halted the demolition, petitioning the city to rehabilitate the building instead. The exterior of the firehouse was restored, and the building survives as a notable and familiar neighborhood landmark today. DC Inventory: June 23, 2005
National Register: July 27, 2007
]]>Engine Company No. 20 was the first major public structure built in Tenleytown in 1900. At the time, Tenleytown was at the edge of Washington, DC's development. Soon after, the nearby residential subdivisions of Armsleigh Park (1892) and American University Park (1897) expanded. The firehouse signaled the absorption of the former crossroads settlement into a growing neighborhood and the eventual development of the community.
Designed by architect Leon Dessez (1858-1918), Engine Company No. 20 is Italianate Revival in style. The façade has glazed buff brick with overhanging scrolled eaves, a terra cotta tile roof, and an expressed hose tower. With the addition of a one-story annex by Snowden Ashford (1866-1927), Engine Company No. 20 became the second motorized station in the city in 1913.
DC Inventory: February 7, 2002
]]>In hopes of attracting buyers to his new neighborhood, developer Arthur E. Randle (1859-1929) donated the land upon which to build a firehouse after successfully lobbying Congress to appropriate the funds for its construction. Designed by architectural firm, Averill and Adams, Engine Company No. 19 is in the French Revival style. Originally built in 1910 to house Chemical Company No. 2, this firehouse served the Randle Heights community which lay outside the municipal water service, making the neighborhood inaccessible to fire hydrants. By 1921, Engine Company No. 19 formed to protect the community. Engine Company No. 19’s prominent tower had dual purpose: drying hoses and observation of the surrounding area. The city's fire alarm call box system achieved a level of sophistication that rendered most observation towers obsolete. However, in the case of Engine Company No. 19, the observation tower's use likely continued to serve as a look out; the call box system had not been extended throughout the suburban areas of DC so the low building heights in the neighborhood made an observation tower more effective for spotting fires. Today, the picturesque Engine Company No. 19 remains a staple of the Randle Heights community. DC Inventory: July 23, 2009National Register: May 10, 2010
]]>Originally built in 1901 to house Chemical Company No. 4, this firehouse served the Brookland community which lay outside the municipal water service, making the neighborhood inaccessible to fire hydrants. By 1905 though, Engine Company No. 17 formed at the request of the Brookland Citizens' Association for a community firehouse to protect their neighborhood. Constructed when development sites were readily available in Brookland, Engine Company No. 17 was and is distinctive with its 60-foot tower, making it an identifiable landmark in the community. Engine Company No. 17's prominent tower had dual purpose: drying hoses and observation of the surrounding area. By 1902, the city's fire alarm call box system achieved a level of sophistication that rendered most observation towers obsolete. However, in the case of Engine Company No. 17, the observation tower's use likely continued to serve as a look out; the call box system had not been extended throughout the suburban areas of DC so the general low building heights in the neighborhood made an observation tower more effective for spotting fires. At the time of its construction, only a few modest, free-standing houses stood in the immediate vicinity of the firehouse. Today, Brookland is a fully developed residential area, with Engine Company No. 17 as one of its beloved landmarks. DC Inventory: July 22, 2004
National Register: June 6, 2007
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