{"nrhp_refnum":"74000544","name":"Nevada City Firehouse No. 2","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"420 Broad St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Nevada City","county":"Nevada County","state":"CA","lat":39.26303627800007,"lon":-121.02020254499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-05-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small red brick firehouse at 420 Broad Street in Nevada City, California, built between October 1860 and January 1861 for a volunteer fire company.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it Nevada City's first permanent firehouse and the first built with funds raised by public subscription. It is the only original firehouse in the city still in use. It is also presented as a good example of simple Classic Revival public architecture of the Mother Lode region.","narrative":"Firehouse No. 2 is a red brick building at 420 Broad Street in Nevada City, about 16 feet wide and 30 feet deep, with a gabled front, a two-story white wooden portico and an iron outside stair to the second floor. A square cupola holding the fire bell was added some years after construction. Its origins lie in the fires that damaged the city between 1851 and 1858. Local women raised $1,072.50 through a ball and a theatrical show in 1859 and 1860 to start a fire department. Rival Main Street and Broad Street factions then formed companies, and the Broad Street group, helped by a further public subscription, built the city's first permanent firehouse between October 1860 and January 1861. It is described as the only original firehouse in Nevada City still in use, and its Classic Revival design reflects the styles early California settlers brought from the East Coast.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (started 19 Oct. 1860; completed Jan. 17, 1861)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Classic Revival, with vestiges of Greek Revival (cornice returns)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition and unaltered; still in use housing fire department apparatus, with the second floor used for Camp Fire and Girl Scout meetings.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.825744-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/74000544.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000544/0c6299b0d2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000544/0c6299b0d2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Almonroth","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nevada_City_Firehouse_Number_Two-3.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Almonroth</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nevada_City_Firehouse_Number_Two-3.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"85002520","name":"Nevada City Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/california/nevada-city-downtown-historic-district-85002520/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860146","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_City_Firehouse_No._2","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7003381"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/nevada-county/nevada-city-firehouse-no-2-74000544/"}