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North Carolina's Capital City formed a full-time, fully-paid fire
department in 1912. The volunteer fire companies
were disbanded and the city assumed their
horse-drawn equipment. Three hose companies were placed in service
with three stations. By 1915, the fire department
was fully motorized. In 1926, two more stations
opened; in 1943, a sixth station was added. By 1950,
the Raleigh Fire Department operated five engines, one
aerial truck, one service truck, and a "squad."
Historian Mike Legeros explores
Raleigh's old engine houses, as well as newer facilities that have since closed or been
repurposed.
Old
Station 2
500 Fayetteville Street Mall
Built 1932 / Closed 1969
Presently performing arts center
On August 14, 1932, a newly completed Memorial Auditorium was dedicated. The
4,000-seat, Greek Doric-designed structure included a two-bay fire station
beneath the stage. Its predecessor, the City Auditorium, was destroyed by fire
in October 1930.
The old City Auditorium was located adjacent to City Hall at the intersection of
Fayetteville and Davie Streets. The blaze also destroyed many municipal papers
including fire department records.
The fire station faced Fayetteville Street and both the stage and rear part of
the building were designed for use as a fire school room and drill tower.
Station 2 relocated there from 421 South Salisbury Street.
In August 1941, Station 1 moved into old Station 2. Due to limited space, both
ladder trucks were moved to the auditorium, while Engine 2 was housed with
Engine 1. In October 1953, a new Station 1 opened on South Dawson Street and
Engine 2 was returned to service at Station 2.
On October 16, 1969, a new Station 2 opened at 263 Pecan Road. The old station
space was most recently renovated in 2001,
when the auditorium was expanded and reopened as the BTI
Center For The Performing Arts.
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Old Station 4
505 Jefferson Street
Built 1924-26 / Closed 1964
Presently privately owned
On June 15, 1926, Raleigh's fourth fire station opened at 505 Jefferson
Street. The 1,395-square-foot, single-story station was located in a
neighborhood off Glenwood
Avenue.
Engine 4 was placed in service with a 1920s
American LaFrance pumper. It later operated a
1950 FWD pumper and a 1957 FWD pumper. Engine 4 also automatically
responded to Station 1 to fill in whenever the downtown
companies were dispatched to a fire.
In early 1963, construction was completed on three new fire stations:
Station 9 at 4465 Six Forks Road, Station 8 at 5001 Western Boulevard, and a
new Station 4 at 2913 Wake Forest Road.
Old Station 4 was sold at auction and remains privately owned. The building is
also designated as a Raleigh Historic Landmark. |
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Old Station 4
2913 Wake Forest Road
Built 1963 / Closed 1997
Presently commercial property
Engine 4 moved to 2913 Wake Forest Road on April 12, 1963. The
3,984-square-foot station also later housed one of the fire department's two
1960 GMC tankers.
On June 24, 1993, Station 4 relocated to 121 Northway
Court. Old Station 4 was converted to a career center and also
served as an office for the hazardous materials coordinator.
In April 1997, the facility closed. The
building was subsequently sold.
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Old Station 6
2513 Fairview Road
Opened 1943 / Closed 1948
Presently restaurant
Station 6 opened on March 3, 1943 in one half of a rented building at 2519
Fairview Road. Built in 1936, the 4,400-square-foot commercial structure also
housed a pharmacy. Engine 6 was placed in service with a 1919 American
LaFrance pumper purchased from Farmville, N.C.
In the summer of 1948, the city lost its lease and Engine 6 relocated to
Station 5 on Park Drive. On July 25, 1949, a dedicated Station 6 opened a few
doors down at 2602 Fairview Road.
The building presently houses a restaurant.
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Old Station 8
1007 Method Road
Opened 1960 / Closed 1963
Presently grocery store
On March 31, 1960 at 11:55 p.m., two minutes after the City Council authorized
an annexation in west Raleigh, Fire Chief Jack Keeter moved the second engine
company at Station 1 to its new quarters at 903 Kent Road, presently addressed
1007 Method Road.
Engine 8 was placed in service with the crew and apparatus of Engine 9, a 1958
American LaFrance pumper. The rented residence also housed a tanker.
In February 1963, a dedicated station was completed at 5001 Western Boulevard.
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Old Alarm House
Behind 220 South Dawson Street
Built 1942 / Closed 1972
Presently used as weight room and storage
On August 12, 1941, construction started on a dedicated facility for the
city's Gamewell electric-telegraph fire
alarm system. The equipment had been housed at Station 1 on West Morgan Street
until its demolition that summer.
Completed in 1942 and including materials salvaged
from the old station, the 1,400-square-foot alarm house was erected in the
rear of a lot purchased for a replacement Station 1. Due to a wartime shortage of
materials and other reasons, the new fire
station was not completed until 1953.
Beginning in 1965, the building also housed the fire department dispatchers.
The "radio room" closed in the
spring of 1972, when a new city/county emergency
communications center assumed those duties.
The last box alarm was received on May 14, 1973. Within a year, the alarm system had been
dismantled and the boxes, gongs, registers, and
repeater were sold as surplus property.
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Old Shop
263 Pecan Street
Built
1969 / Closed 2004
Presently houses haz-mat apparatus
On October 16, 1969, a new Station 2 opened at 263 Pecan Street. The
single-story building included a 1,395-square-foot repair shop in the rear, replacing
earlier maintenance facilities at Memorial Auditorium.
On October 8, 2004, the fire department shop began moving into a new Support
Services Center adjoining the city's Heavy Equipment Depot at 4120 New Bern Avenue.
The old
garage presently houses haz-mat apparatus, relocated from Station 20 on November
5, 2004.
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Training Tower
105 Keeter Center Drive
Built 1954 / Demolished 2005
The fire department's first training tower was located at old Station 1 on
West Morgan Street. Built in 1896, the tower and station were demolished in 1941.
In the summer of 1954, a new training tower was completed off Highway 15 South, now
South Wilmington
Street. The five-story, 2,000-square-foot structure included
a standpipe system, safety net, and exterior escape.
Later additions to the grounds included fire pits and a smokehouse
built from the bricks of old Station 5. Located at the present Keeter Training
Center, the tower is slated for replacement. Demolition started on April 16,
2005.
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Capital Hose House
One structure still standing from
the Raleigh Fire Department's volunteer era is the original quarters of the
Capital Hose Company at 117 West Morgan Street. The two-story brick building
was constructed in 1887 in conjunction with the completion of a municipal water
system. The first floor housed a hand-drawn hose reel on one side and the water
company office on the other side. The second floor was a fireman's hall. The
volunteer fire company moved across the street to 112 West Morgan Street in
1890. The 1,591 square-foot building is presently an office. The adjoining water
tower is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Other Early Fire Houses
Photos courtesy North Carolina State Archives
The
original Station 1 at 112 West Morgan Street
was built in 1896. The two-story brick building
included a combination bell and hose tower and
originally housed the Rescue and Hook and Ladder
companies. Station 1 relocated to 412 South
Salisbury Street in 1941. The building was promptly
demolished, and the land sold to the state for an
addition to the adjacent Revenue Building. The
original Station 2 was located on
Fayetteville Street, on the Salisbury Street side of the courthouse lot.
Built in 1870, the former Rescue Company quarters
were demolished in 1913. A second Station 2
at 412 South Salisbury Street was built 1914. The
two-story structure closed in 1932 when Station 2
relocated to Memorial Auditorium. It reopened as Station 1
(left) in 1941, and closed again in 1953 when
Station 1 relocated to 220 South Dawson Street. The
original Station 3 was located at 135 East Hargett Street.
Built around 1898, the former Victor Company
quarters were demolished in 1952. Station 3
relocated to 13 South East Street one year earlier.
The original Station 5 (right) was built in
1926. Located at 1914 Park Drive, it closed in 1961
and was subsequently demolished by firefighters who
saved the bricks and soon built a smokehouse
adjacent to the training tower in south Raleigh.
Map
References
Raleigh Fire Department
Raleigh Fire Department,
Unofficial
Sanborn Fire
Insurance Maps via NC LIVE
Requires password available from your local library. After
logging into NC LIVE, click Browse Resources and select Maps
Wake County Real Estate
Records
The Series
Asheville Former Firehouses
Charlotte Former Firehouses
Durham
Former Firehouses
Fayetteville Former Firehouses
Goldsboro Former Firehouses
Greensboro Former Firehouses
High
Point Former Firehouses
Kinston Former Firehouses
New
Bern Former Firehouses
Raleigh Former Firehouses
Rocky
Mount and Wilson Former Firehouses
Wilmington Former Firehouses
Winston-Salem Former Firehouses
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