National Register of Historic Places

Old Central Fire Station

Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Listed
November 2, 1977
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
77000177

About this property

The Old Central Fire Station is a historic fire station at 66 Allen Street in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1895, it is the city's oldest surviving fire station, and a prominent local example of Romanesque architecture. The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and was included in an expansion of Pittsfield's Park Square Historic District in 1991. It now houses offices. Pittsfield's former Central Fire Station is located roughly behind the Old Town Hall in the city's downtown Park Square area. The building is constructed primarily of brick in a Richardsonian Romanesque style. It is two stories in height, with a 60-foot (18 m) hose drying tower at one corner. It has four equipment bays, the outer ones set in large round-arch surrounds, and the inner ones set in segmented-arch openings. It was the first city station equipped for the stabling of horses on its premises. The station's general location has been used since about 1844 as a site for fire companies. A previous building, located across the street, was destroyed by fire in 1859. After construction of this building in 1895 the old building housed the Veteran Fireman's Association; it was demolished in the 1930s. This building was built in 1895 to a design by E.J. Cowell, the city's building inspector. Cowell had a reputation as a designer of local houses. The building was used as a fire station until 1976, and thereafter as a city vehicle storage facility. It now houses the offices of a local economic development agency. National Register of Historic Places listings in Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Location

66 Allen St.
Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts
42.44949, -73.25213

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Allen Hotel
Industrial
0.1 mi
Old Town Hall
Early Republic
0.1 mi
Wollison-Shipton Building
Industrial
0.1 mi
Berkshire Life Insurance Company Building
Industrial
0.1 mi
Park Square Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Listed
0.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Old Central Fire Station listed on the National Register?

Old Central Fire Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 2, 1977.

What type of historic resource is Old Central Fire Station?

Old Central Fire Station is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Old Central Fire Station?

The period of significance for Old Central Fire Station is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Old Central Fire Station?

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