A New Home for Engine No. 1
Seattle's volunteer firefighters get a state-of-the-art brick headquarters on Columbia Street.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Seattle Engine Co. No. 1 moved into their Columbia street building yesterday, and they are now in first-rate shape. The boys should be exceedingly comfortable in their new quarters, as the building is one which ought to be no less a pride to the company than it is a credit to the city. It is on the south side of Columbia street a short distance above Front, and is built of brick with a tin roof and surmounted by a neat belfry. The entire lower floor is thrown into one room, in which the engine and hose reels are to be found. In the rear of this room is a row of stalls to be used by the department team. On the second floor is a meeting room for the company, and in the rear of this are two bed-rooms for the use of the engineer and fireman. Water pipes and heaters extend throughout the building, so it may be said to have all the modern conveniences.
“The building is one which ought to be no less a pride to the company than it is a credit to the city.”
While this historic firehouse is long gone, the neighborhood remains a dense urban core. The transition from volunteer engine companies to professional departments was a pivotal moment in the civic professionalization of Seattle.
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