Fire Station No. 25
Fire Station No. 25 is a reminder of the fire stations and fire equipment of earlier eras. Built between 1908 and 1909, the station was designed with features necessary for the horse-drawn fire wagons of the early 20th century: room for a blacksmith shop, a horse ramp from the alley into the building and three stalls for horses. The front of each stall featured a pair of double doors that opened automatically when the fire alarm rang. As Fire Station No. 25 adapted to changing times, it also became home to the city's first piece of equipment powered by an internal combustion engine.
By World War I the last of the horse wagons were gone and modifications allowed the station to adapt to the new requirements of the contemporary fire equipment. Despite these changes, however, by 1970 the station was no longer adequate for the size and complexity of modern equipment. Historic Seattle, the city's official preservation and development authority, purchased the building, then sold it with protective covenants to a developer. Now subdivided into 16 luxury rental apartments, Fire Station No. 25 stands as a monument to Seattle's civic history and to adapting old buildings to new uses.
Fire Station No. 25 is located at 1400 Harvard Ave., just east of the Phillips House. The building is not open to the public.
Information and photos courtesy of the National Register for Historic Places Seattle, WA Travel Itinerary, a subsidiary of the National Park Service.
