Nomination for Engine House No. 34

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

NPS Form 10-900 (3-82) OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries - complete applicable sections 1. Name For NPS use only received SEP 2 3 198 date entered OCT 2 4 1985 historic Engine House #34 and or common Western Avenue Fire Station 2. Location street & number 444 Western Avenue nanot for publication city, town Boston (Brighton) na vicinity of state Massachusetts code 025 Suffolk 025 county code 3.

Classification Category _ district x building(s) _ structure - site object Ownership - public -x private _ both Public Acquisition in process na being considered Status occupied X unoccupied _ work in progress Accessible - yes: restricted yes: unrestricted x no Present Use agriculture _ commercial educational entertainment - government industrial .military museum park - private residence - religious _ scientific -transportation X other: vacant 4. Owner of Property 444 Western Avenue Trust, Frederick LaSelva and Frederick Fink, Trustees street & number 20 Province Street Boston city, town na vicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description Massachusetts state courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Suffolk County Registry of Deeds Pemberton Square street & number Boston Massachusetts city, town state 6.

Representation in Existing Surveys title Inventory of the Historic Assets of the Commonwealth of Massachusettshas this property been determined eligible? - yes date 1979,. Inventory # AB530 federal _ state county - local depository for survey records Massachusetts Historical Commission, 80 Boylston Street Boston city, town state Massachusetts 7. Description Engine House #34, 444 Western Avenue, Boston (Brighton), MA Condition excellent x-good E - tair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one _ unaltered X altered Check one X original site .moved date na Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

Engine House #34, dating from 1887-1889, is located in the Brighton section of Boston on the south side of Western Avenue. The immediate neighborhood is characterized by a mix of commercial, industrial, and residential uses. A parking lot abuts the station to the west, while a three-story wood frame commercial/residential structure stands to the east. The station is a two-story, red brick building with brownstone trim. It rests on a granite foundation and is enclosed by a gable slate roof with copper flashing, gutters, and downspouts. Stylistically, it combines the round arches of the Romanesque Revival with the asymmetry and variety of the Queen Anne.

Predominant features include a round-arched engine bay and gable window, both with brownstone archivolts; brownstone buttresses,beltcourses and broad lintels; a narrow brick corbelled cornice; and, finally, a hose drying tower with pyramidal roof. The building has survived Targely intact with the following exceptions: original windows have been removed and their openings bricked down to accommodate smaller, metal 1/1 double-hung sash; doors have likewise been removed and replaced; and the roof has lost two original ventilators, as well as a central cupola added at some time after the original construction. These alterations, which are reversible, likely occurred in the mid-twentieth century when the fire station was decommissioned.

The main facade (north) is dominated by a single round-arched engine bay centered at the first story, and by a steep cross gable containing a smaller round-arched opening, offset to the west above the roofline. Both arches are distinguished by brick voussoirs, which are wedge-shaped, in the gable and by molded brownstone archivolts. The first-story arch springs from molded brownstone impost blocks, which are aligned with a beltcourse to a heavy lintel. To the west, a decorative buttress extends the wall plane while rising from the first-story beltcourse to another that forms the sills of the second-story windows. The three second-story windowsare evenly spaced across the facade and are headed by a wide continuous lintel. The rooftop gable contains a third beltcourse from which its round arch springs, and is finished with brownstone coping.

The west elevationisasymmetrically arranged, andis characterized chiefly by heavy lintels, which, at the second story, rise above a narrow corbelled brick bel tcourse. Proceeding southward at the first story, openings include an entry and four evenly spaced windows followed by a blank bay and terminated by a wider entry. At the second story, three windows are aligned with the door and windows below, followed by a blank bay, then two more windows; the southernmost window is set beneath the brick beltcourse. A chimney, with buttressing at its lower north face, rises above the roof. Four segmentally arched basement windows, currently boarded up, are revealed behind a coursed rubble areaway.

1 19 TOtJO Continued NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Engine House #34 Continuation sheet Boston (Brighton), MA Item number 7 OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 For NPS use only received date entered Page 1 The east elevation is similar in design to the west but lacks the entries. Proceeding southward, openings include five vertically aligned windows at both stories, followed by a blank wall at the first story and by two additional windows at the second story. Extremely narrow windows occupy the southernmost The tower is further distinguished by a narrow window at the buttress level, by an encircling beltcourse at the top of the buttress, and by long louvered openings on all four faces of the freestanding tower itself.

The tower is terminated by a second beltcourse, a brick corbel table, and a pyramidal roof.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance Engine House #34, 444 Western Avenue, Boston (Brighton), MA Period prehistoric 1400-1499 1500-1599 1600-1699 1700-1799 X 1800-1899 1900 Areas of Significance-Check and justify below -_. archeology-prehistoric .--- community planning - archeology-historic conservation _ agriculture economics -x architecture education -- art engineering commerce - exploration/settlement communications industry invention landscape architecture. law literature military music - philosophy politics/government religion science sculpture social/ humanitarian theater _transportation -other (specify) community development Builder/Architect Charles Bateman Specific dates 1887-1897 Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

(in one paragraph) Engine House #34, dating from 1887-1889, possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, and workmanship as well as significant associations with the expansion of Boston's Fire Department, especially in outlying areas. It exemplifies the high standard set for municipal buildings in Boston in the second half of the nineteenth century, and is a good example of the work of city architect Charles Bateman. Additionally, it is significant as a reflection of the rapid late nineteenth century development of the Brighton section of Boston following its annexation. in 1874. It thus meets criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places. The City of Boston has attempted to control the incidence and spread of fire since the mid-seventeenth century, generally in response to the ravages of major conflagrations.

In 1653 an ordinance was passed requiring that chains, crooks, and ropes be kept at meetinghouses, and that all citizens keep ladders tall enough to reach the roofs of their buildings. The first engine company was formed in 1679 accompanied by legislation preventing the erection of wood-frame buildings.! under the control of a Board of Firewards. By 1800, Boston had fourteen engine companies and had located its near the present Dover MBTA Station. 3first fire hydrant on Washington Street, In 1825, three years after Boston's incorporation as a city, a series of disastrous fires led to a reorganization of the fire protection system.

Centralization was seen as the path to efficiency, so in 1826, the old system of Firewards was abolished in favor of a Fire Department "consisting of a Chief Engineer and as many other engineers, fire wardens, engine men, hosemen, and hook and ladder men as may be necessary."4 Two years later, in 1828, the fire department consisted of buckets, 2,000 feet of hose, 25 hose carriages, and 15 in various parts of the city, containing a total of 35,000 gallons of water. In 1873, following the previous year's disastrous downtown fire, the City Council was asked to consider appointment of an independent board to control and manage the fire department.

The result was passage of an ordinance ont: October 13, 1873, to "Establish a Fire Department" consisting of three Fire Commissioners, a Chief Engineer, a Superintendant of Fire Alarms, ten assistant engineers, and other officers, enginemen, telegraph operators, and other members to a total of 550. Theandaad is deds perfoto ae fe ot mhedd city nentoyees inhi8b raee tpart- ment was supplemented by thesestablishment of the Office of the Fire Marshall, which acted as its police arm, examining the cause, circumstances and origins of fires.7 Continued 9.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Major Bibliographical References Barry, Charles A., The Boston Fire Department--History of a Boston Institution, 1631-1880, compiled from clippings from the Boston Courier, 1880. Brayley, Arthur Wellington, A Complete History of the Boston Fire Department, John Dale & Co., Boston, 1889. Continued 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property _ 16,312 square feet Quadrangle name Newton Quadrangle scale 1: 25,000 UTM References *L119l 13/213/61410/ Zone Easting 416/91/91810 Northing Easting DLL F AILIL Northing LLILL E GLUJLLILLLILILN HLULUILU LILILIL Verbal boundary description and justification The nomination is confined to the fire station and the lot on which it stands. There is no potential for a historic district in the area. Please see attached City of Boston Topographic and Planimetric Survey Map.

List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state na code county code state code county code 11. Form Prepared By name/title Candace Jenkins, Preservation Consultant organization na date April 1985 street & number 17 Slade Street telephone 617-484-2395 Belmont city or town -state Massachusetts 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national _ state X local As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service.

State Historic Preservation Officer signature Valuie A Talmege Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission date Srpt, 2,1985 For NPS use only I hereby, certify that this property is included in the National Registere Melouy Erbered National Registez 10-24-85 date date Attest: Chief of Registration GPO 911-399 NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Engine House #34 Continuation sheet Boston (Briehton), M Item number 8 OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 For NPS use anly received date antered Page 1 An excellent description of the personnel, equipment, property, and day-to-day workings of the newly organized department is provided by a Special Report of the Fire Department, prepared by the Board of Fire commissioners at the requestof themayor in 1890.

That report makes it clear that the department was striving for greater professionalism and accountability, and was increasing its presence in the city's rapidly developing outer neighborhoods. Improvements mentioned include the use of civil service examinations to select oe ag e, and int reuton or amhtat eparta o e asperens of ent age departmentwide inspections of two weeks duration by the Chief of the department and the Board of Commissioners. Specifically, the report stated that the department was composed of 692 active members,and that it was organized as follows: 34 engine companies, including engine 31; the fireboat; 16 ladder companies; 10 chemical engine companies; 8 independent hose companies; and the water tower. These companies are distributed through the 10 fire districts into which the City has been divided, each district cetef,.

ynder the inmediate supervision and command of a district As far as apparatus and equipment were concerned, the report stated: There in active service, 34 steam fire-engines including the fire-boat; 16 ladder trucks; 10 chemical engines; and 8 hose carriages, or wagons belonging to independent hose companies. At the repair shop there are 7 spare engines. Three new engines, two of the Clapp & Jones pattern, and one Silsby, have just arrived, but at this writing have not been assigned to active duty or received the usual tests. They are second size engines of new model, each with a guaranteed capacity of 700 gallons per minute.9 In addition, the department owned close to 200 horses "for the propelling power of the apparatus.

"10 After discussing several stations then under construction or authorized for construction, the report closed with a plea for continued support and expansion: In the outlying sections of Boston there has been so much building enterprise for the past few years, that new colonies have sprung up in various parts of Roxbury, West Roxbury, Dorchester, Brighton and elsewhere, which feel, with frequently considerable show of reason, that better protection against fire should be afforded them. not be possible to arant all they desire or perhaps need, at once; It mabut their petitions in several cases deserve fruitage in the not distant future.11 Continued NPS Form10-900-a (3-82) OMB No.

1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form For NPS use only recelved date entered Engine House #34 Continuation sheet Boston (Brighton), MA Item number 8 Page 2 Engine House #34 is representative of the late nineteenth century expansion and improvement of the Boston Fire Department. Its construction was first mentioned in official city reports in 1887, when the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Board of Fire Commissioners stated that "a new engine house is in process of construction in Brighton (district 8)."12 The annual report of 1889 indicated completion of the station, saying, "the new engine house at Brighton has been accepted and occupied by an engine company numbered 34. It practically doubles the protection afforded the Brighton district, and is proper.

ipgn to cover, in cases of considerable emergecha, vl thin the citye Stations at East Boston, Roslindale, and Charlestown were under construction at the same time, and by the following station was proposed for Harvard Avenue (NR, 1983).14ear, a second Brighton Charles J. Bateman supervised construction of Engine House #34 during his second nonconsecutive one-year term as City Architect (1883-1884; 1888-1889). Born in Cambridge on March 4, 1851, Bateman was educated in public schools and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This training was followed by a seven-year apprenticeship in the offices of Faulkner & Clarke, one of which was spent in their Chicago office. Bateman then practiced with George Ropes for three years before opening his own Boston office in 1876.

Bateman was best known for design of large institutional structures, both public and private, but he also designed numerous private homes. Public buildings included schools on 0 Street, Auburn Street, and Hammond Street as well as the Roxbury High School. Private commissions included parochial schools in Charlestown, Malden, Waltham, and East Boston, as well as St. Cecilia Church in Back Bay, St. Catherine's Church in Charlestown, and Most Precious Blood Church in Hyde Park. Boston Landmarks Commission records indicate that approximately seventy five fire stations, both active and decommissioned, remain in Boston today. One third of these are considered potential candidates for the National Register of Historic Places or for other historic designations. Only fifteen, including Engine House #34, were constructed in the 19th century, with the earliest dated at 1860.

While Engine House #34 is not the oldest, the finest, or the best preserved, it 1s representative of the design, scale, and quality of late 19th century firehouse construction in Boston. It also compares well to the firehouses currently listed in the National Register, namely the Gothic Revival-style Eustis Street firehouse of 1860 in Roxbury, the Romanesque Revival-style firehouse of 1888 at 941 Boylston Street in the Back Bay, and the Classical Revival-style firehouse of 1890 at 16 Harvard Avenue in Allston. Engine House #34 is a significant indicator of the development of Boston's Brightonsection,reflecting its rapid population growth and accompanying need for city services such as police and fire and protection. It is also important as a part of the body of municipal design work by Charles Bateman.

Finally, it is significant as a handsome example of the Romanesque Revival style, which, according to the Boston Landmark Commission's survey of Brighton/Al1ston, is rare in that area- NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Engine House #34 Continuation sheet Boston (Brighton), MA Item number 9 OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 For NPS use Only received date entered Page 1 BIBLIOGRAPHY AnnualReports of thecity Architect, of the Board of Fire commissioners, of the Fire Marshall, and of the Superintendent. 188/-1890 Board of Fire Commissioners. Special Report on the Fire Department. 1890. City Document #64 Boston Public Library. Architects' File. FOOTNOTES 1. Brayley, A. W. A Complete History of the Boston Fire Department.

This bookincludes numerous photographs of fire stations around the city. Most are 2-3 stories with hose drying towers and are executed in a variety of styles including Italianate, Mansard, Victorian Gothic, and Romanesque Revival. This station is moderate in terms of size and execution. 2. Ibid, p. 31. 3. Ibid, p. 107. 4. Ibid, pp. 149-150. Barry, C. A. The Boston Fire Department. Unpaginated. 6. Brayley, op. cit., p. 291. 7. Annual Report of the ire Marshall of the City of Boston. Wright & Porter Printing Co., 1887. Unpaginated. 8. Board of Fire Conmissioners. Special Report on the Fire Department. City Doc. 64., p. 4. 9. Ibid, p. 7. 10. Ibid, p. 15. 11. Ibid, pp. 17-18. : 379.-18. 12. Fourteenth Annual Report of the Board of Fire Commissioners. April 30, T887. City Doc. #81. Sixteenth Annual Report of the Board of Fire Commissioners. April 30, T889. City Doc. #93. 14.

Board of Fire Commissioners. Special Report, op. cit., p. 17. 15. Boston Public Library. Architects' File. 16. Boston Landmarks Commission. Brighton/Allston Historic Resources Survey. 8500 3375 WASO Form - 177 ("'R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET 34 Engine House #6p Suffolk County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: -sample Reviewer's comments: request SEP Working No. Fed. Reg. Date: 2/2 Date Due: _ 0/2 Entored Action: LACCEPT National fegiates -RETURN. _ REJECT _ Federal Agency: 23 1985 - 14/7/83 10-24-85 -appeal LNR decision Recom./Criteria Reviewer Discipline Date see continuation sheet Nomination returned for: _ technical corrections cited below _substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3.

Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? yes no 7. Description Condition excellent good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one unaltered altered Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use Check one original site J moved date. 8. Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) Builder/Architect summary paragraph completeness clarityc 8S 930 applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9.

Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: _national state local State Historic Preservation Officer signature title date 13. Other - Maps - Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to _ Signed - Date. - Phone: - Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet 444 Engine House #34 444 Western Avenue Boston, Mass. Candace Jenkins Belmont, Mass. View facing southeast Photo #1 of 1 1985