Engine Company No. 21

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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