Pleasant Street Firehouse

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Pleasant Street Firehouse

Pleasant Street Firehouse, Worcester MA.jpg

Pleasant Street Firehouse
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Location 408 Pleasant St., Worcester, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°15′48″N71°48′59″W / 42.26333°N 71.81639°W / 42.26333; -71.81639 Coordinates: 42°15′48″N71°48′59″W / 42.26333°N 71.81639°W / 42.26333; -71.81639
Built 1873
Architectural style Late Victorian
MPS Worcester MRA
NRHP reference #

80000597

[1]
Added to NRHP March 05, 1980

The Pleasant Street Firehouse is an historic former firehouse at 408 Pleasant Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. One of three fire stations built by the city in 1873, it was Worcester's oldest active firehouse [2] when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. [1] It has since been converted to commercial retail use. [3]

Worcester, Massachusetts City in Massachusetts, United States

Worcester is a city in, and the county seat of, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population was 181,045, making it the second most populous city in New England after Boston. Worcester is located approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston, 50 miles (80 km) east of Springfield and 40 miles (64 km) north of Providence. Due to its location in Central Massachusetts, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth", thus, a heart is the official symbol of the city. However, the heart symbol may also have its provenance in lore that the Valentine's Day card, although not invented in the city, was mass-produced and popularized by Esther Howland who resided in Worcester.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

Contents

Description and history

The former Pleasant Street Firehouse stands in a mixed residential-commercial area west of downtown Worcester, at the southwest corner of Pleasant and Winslow Streets. It is a two-story brick building, with a hip roof topped by an open cupola, and a pedimented gable with oriel window atop the center section of the main (north-facing) facade. There are three equipment bays on the ground floor, all of which have been enclosed with wood frame walls clad in shingles. The outer bays each have a door in them, that on the right also with a plate glass window to the right. Two similar glass windows are found in the central bay. Windows in the second floor are topped by eared granite lintels. [2]

The city built this firehouse in 1873-74 on land purchased from Daniel Waldo Lincoln, a prominent local landowner. Its architect is unknown; although the city paid the local firm of Earle and Fuller for design services related to fire stations in 1873, the building is stylistically different from the other firehouses built at the time. It is somewhat curiously retardaire in style, with the cupola and projecting side pavilion more reminiscent of earlier Federal and Greek Revival styles than the then-current Second Empire and Renaissance styles. [2] Since its listing on the National Register in 1980, the city closed and sold the building, and it has been converted to commercial use. [3]

See also

There are 104 properties and historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Worcester, Massachusetts, west of I-190 and the north-south section of I-290 and north of Massachusetts Route 122, which are listed here. Two listings overlap into other parts of Worcester: one of the 1767 Milestones is located in eastern Worcester, and the Blackstone Canal Historic District traverses all three sections of the city.

National Register of Historic Places listings in Worcester County, Massachusetts Wikimedia list article

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) designated in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The locations of NRHP properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below, may be seen in a map.

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References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for Pleasant Street Firehouse". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  3. 1 2 "Winslow Street firehouse, Worcester". Worcester Telegram. June 9, 2014. Retrieved 2015-10-09.