Historic Firehouses of Louisville

Built by the WPA in 1936, the Louisville Fire Department Headquarters is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Historic Firehouses of Louisville is a Thematic Resource (TR) Multiple Property Submission (MPS) on the National Register of Historic Places. The submission represents 18 historic fire stations, located in Louisville, Kentucky, which were added to the National Register in 1980–81 due to their historical and architectural merits.^{[1] [2]}

History of firefighting in Louisville

Louisville's first fire brigades were established in 1780, two years after the city's creation. The first firehouses were volunteer fire departments scattered throughout the city, but on June 1, 1858 the city of Louisville took control, and replaced the hand engines with five steam engines and volunteers with paid staff. There were initially three fire stations, 65 professional firefighters, and 23 horses.^[1][3][4]

Many of the early firehouses were demolished due to urban renewal; the oldest firehouse still standing was originally built as St. John's Church in 1848, but the city turned the two-story edifice of brick and cast iron located in Phoenix Hill into a firehouse in 1869.^[1] Three additional remaining firehouses were built in the 1870s and 1880s (Steam Engine Co. #7 in Limerick (1871), Steam Engine Co. #10 in Butchertown (1873), and the Rogers Street Firehouse in Irish Hill (1883)).

Formed on October 7, 1871, as the Louisville Steam Engine Co. 7, Engine Company 7, at 6th & York Streets, is the oldest continuously operated firehouse in the United States.^[5] Due to budget concerns, it is scheduled to close in January 2009, in hopes to save $543,000 from the city's budget.^[6]

The most prominent of the firehouses built in the 1890s was the Fire Department Headquarters built in Downtown Louisville at 617 W. Jefferson Street in 1891. It is Richardsonian Romanesque in style, as it was built by the McDonald Brothers, who also made the Kentucky National Bank and Norton's Warehouse buildings in downtown Louisville.^[1]

The current fire department headquarters, at 1135 W. Jefferson Street (just outside downtown Louisville), was built in 1936 by the WPA. This limestone edifice is one of the few buildings in Louisville built in the Art Deco style.^[1]

Properties in Historic Firehouses of Louisville TR

	Landmark name	Image	Date listed	Location	City or Town	Summary
1	Fire Department Headquarters		November 7, 1981	1135 W. Jefferson St. 38°14′37″N 85°47′9″W / 38.24361°N 85.78583°W	Louisville
2	Firehouse No. 13		March 10, 1981	100 N. 34th St. 38°15′44″N 85°48′25″W / 38.26222°N 85.80694°W	Louisville
3	Hook and Ladder Company No. 2		November 7, 1980	221 S. Hancock St. 38°15′11″N 85°44′31″W / 38.25306°N 85.74194°W	Louisville
4	Hook and Ladder Company No. 3		November 7, 1980	Frankfort Ave. and Pope St. 38°15′25″N 85°43′0″W / 38.25694°N 85.71667°W	Louisville
5	Hook and Ladder Company No. 4		November 7, 1980	2301 Jefferson St. 38°15′28″N 85°47′22″W / 38.25778°N 85.78944°W	Louisville
6	Hook and Ladder Company No. 5		November 7, 1980	1824 Garland Ave. 38°15′15″N 85°41′44″W / 38.25417°N 85.69556°W	Louisville
7	Steam Engine Company No. 10		November 7, 1980	1419 E. Washington 38°15′29″N 85°43′36″W / 38.25806°N 85.72667°W	Louisville
8	Steam Engine Company No. 11		November 7, 1980	1122 Rogers 38°14′46″N 85°43′38″W / 38.24611°N 85.72722°W	Louisville
9	Steam Engine Company No. 18		November 7, 1980	2600 S. 4th St. 38°13′33″N 85°45′54″W / 38.22583°N 85.76500°W	Louisville
10	Steam Engine Company No. 2		November 7, 1980	617-621 W. Jefferson St. 38°15′16″N 85°45′41″W / 38.25444°N 85.76139°W	Louisville
11	Steam Engine Company No. 20		November 7, 1980	1330 Bardstown Rd. 38°13′48″N 85°45′1″W / 38.23000°N 85.75028°W	Louisville
12	Steam Engine Company No. 20		November 7, 1980	1735 Bardstown Rd. 38°12′41″N 85°45′52″W / 38.21139°N 85.76444°W	Louisville
13	Steam Engine Company No. 21		November 7, 1980	1761 Frankfort Ave. 38°14′20″N 85°48′2″W / 38.23889°N 85.80056°W	Louisville
14	Steam Engine Company No. 22		November 7, 1980	37th and Broadway 38°14′4″N 85°42′59″W / 38.23444°N 85.71639°W	Louisville
15	Steam Engine Company No. 3		November 7, 1980	802-804 E. Main St. 38°15′16″N 85°44′14″W / 38.25444°N 85.73722°W	Louisville
16	Steam Engine Company No. 4		November 7, 1980	1024 Logan St. 38°14′10″N 85°44′23″W / 38.23611°N 85.73972°W	Louisville
17	Steam Engine Company No. 7		November 7, 1980	821 S. 6th St. 38°14′34″N 85°45′43″W / 38.24278°N 85.76194°W	Louisville
18	Steam Engine Company No.4		November 7, 1980	1617 W. Main St. 38°15′33″N 85°46′39″W / 38.25917°N 85.77750°W	Louisville

See also

• Louisville Division of Fire

References

1. Hedgepeth, Marty. Historic Firehouses of Louisville TR Nomination Form}accessed Dec. 10, 2011
2. Historic Firehouses of Louisville (Updated)
3. LouisvilleKy.gov - Louisville Fire - Home Page
4. LouisvilleKy.gov - Louisville Fire - LFD History Full Text
5. Louisville Mayor's Press Release: Study Highlights Repair Needs...
6. Halladay, Jessie. Historic Louisville firehouse faces final call The Courier-Journal January 7, 2009 accessed DEc. 10, 2011

External links

• Steam Engine Co. #7's MySpace page