| Historic Name: |
Fire Station No. 37 |
Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Other, Spanish - Mission |
Neighborhood: |
Morgan Junction |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1925 |
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| Significance |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
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Constructed in 1925, this small fire station is the second oldest fire station currently in use in Seattle. After opening on October 14, 1925 to serve the expanding West Seattle district, the station has been in continuous operation with the exception of an eight-month period in the early 1930s. Between April 1933 and January 1934, many stations were closed, and hundreds of firemen were laid off in a move by Mayor John F. Dore to economize due to the financial depression. Occupied by Engine 37, the station is located the furthest to the southwest in the city. It is also the only small-scale fire station built with its distinctive Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival stylistic features. Located in the industrial district south of downtown, Fire Station No. 14 is a much larger building but displays similar design elements. This fire station was the fourth put into operation in West Seattle and the third to be built by the Seattle Fire Department in the area.
Although West Seattle was annexed in 1907, the city was slow to provide the area with full municipal services. West Seattle had operated a volunteer fire department before annexation with a fire station located at the northern end of the peninsula at 44th Avenue SW and SW Walker Street. The Seattle Fire Department operated its first West Seattle fire station in the 1904 building until 1921 when the company moved to its new brick Bungalow-style fire station located nearby. The original Fire Station No. 29 was the first West Seattle fire station in operation, however West Seattle’s second, Fire Station No. 32, was the first new station built by the Fire Department in the district. Constructed in 1914, this Craftsman Shingle Style fire station was also located in the northern end of the district. In 1919, Fire Station No. 36 was built on SW Spokane Street near the West Seattle Bridge. None of these early fire stations remain extant today as modern stations eventually replaced them. The 1925 Fire Station No. 37 was the first to be built in the southern end of West Seattle and remained the only fire station in the area until the 1971 construction of Fire Station No. 11 in the Highland Park neighborhood to the east. This fire station is significant for its design and for its associations with the development of the Seattle Fire Department and the West Seattle neighborhood.
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| Appearance |
| Completed in 1925, this architecturally distinctive and finely detailed reinforced concrete building is located on a corner lot at the intersection of 35th Avenue SW and SW Othello Street. Set on a high foundation, the one-story building is comprised of two sections, a gable front southern half flanked on the north by a large hip roof wing. This form creates an irregular but mostly rectangular footprint, which measures approximately 53 feet by 63 feet and includes a small gabled wing on the north elevation. The taller engine bay occupies the southwest corner of the building. The office is situated at the northwest corner, while the L-shaped crew quarters wrap the northeast corner and extend the length of the rear east elevation. Stairs along the east elevation lead to a lower basement level. The building features Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival stylistic influences, including a smooth stucco exterior, red tiled roofs, arched window openings, and brick trim. Decoratively cut bargeboards supported by small brackets cover the gable ends while more ornate brackets line the roofs’ overhanging eaves. The building’s windows appear to be modern replacements designed to resemble the originals.
Covered by a prominent front gable roof, the projecting engine bay dominates the principal west elevation and contains two overhead metal doors below a shallow tile roof set on a band of brick trim. A concrete pier separates the two modern doors, which replaced the original pairs of double doors with heavy strap hinges. On either side of the door openings, a small brick arch is set on the upper portion of an otherwise blank wall. These arches may have trimmed small openings, which are no longer extant. However, a c.1937 historic photo shows no such openings. A shallow brick arch also embellishes an opening in the gable end filled with patterned concrete. The small hose tower at the rear of the engine bay has a front gable roof and narrow arched openings centered on its east and west elevations. The tall chimney at the rear of the hip roof wing has a similar decorative treatment. On the northern end of the west elevation, the offset office wing has three tall narrow window openings with brick sills and an entrance door. Each window opening contains a pair of narrow casement windows below a fixed transom. The south elevation of the engine bay is lined with nine similar window openings.
The small gabled wing as well as an exterior chimney distinguish the western half of the north elevation. The wing has two arched openings on its north elevation and a single narrow opening on each side elevation. Narrow windows also flank the chimney located near the western end of the elevation. A small tile roof caps this chimney. Situated high on the wall, a row of five windows lines the eastern end of the north elevation. The gabled southern half of the rear east elevation has three windows at the first story level below two narrow arched openings centered in the gable end. The northern half has a single entrance door flanked by windows, which opens onto a deck of more recent construction. With its distinctive detailing, this well-maintained building has excellent physical integrity despite its window alterations. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Stucco |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable, Hip |
Roof Material(s): |
Clay Tile |
| Building Type: |
Government - Fire Station |
Plan: |
Irregular |
| Structural System: |
Concrete - Poured |
No. of Stories: |
one |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Politics/Government/Law |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
Extensive |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
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Seattle Fire Department, Centennial Commemorative, 1889-1989. Portland, OR: Taylor Pub. Co., c1989.
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