{"nrhp_refnum":"77000177","name":"Old Central Fire Station","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"66 Allen St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsfield","county":"Berkshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.449488494000036,"lon":-73.25213496799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-11-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick fire station at 66 Allen Street in downtown Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, built in 1895 to designs by E.J. Cowell.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the oldest existing fire station in Pittsfield and notes its architectural styling and scale. It was built for the newly organized City Fire Department, which used it until 1976. The form also cites its role in downtown planning and in local politics and government.","narrative":"Built in 1895 at 66 Allen Street, the Old Central Fire Station served Pittsfield's fire department for eighty-one years, until 1976. It sits one block east of North Street, beside City Hall and just above the Park Square Historic District. The building is a two-story brick structure, 100 feet wide and 70 feet deep, with a 60-foot hose tower, set on a rusticated granite base. Its design is a simple Queen Anne style with Richardsonian Romanesque touches, including round granite arches over the engine bays, paired segmental windows and a granite plaque reading \"PFD, Central Station, 1895.\" The original tower steeple was removed in the mid-1920s and the tower raised nine feet. Interiors have been altered, though the engine bays keep their pressed tin ceilings. E.J. Cowell, the city's building inspector, designed it. It was listed as the oldest surviving fire station in Pittsfield, and for its architecture and its place in downtown planning.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1895)","architect_builder":"E.J. Cowell","architectural_style":"Simple Queen Anne with Richardsonian Romanesque detailing","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as vacant; the fire department left in 1976, and the nomination anticipates a mixed professional and commercial use.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.372822-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7942/63794244/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/77000177.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000177/2d7593b5dd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000177/2d7593b5dd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Central_Fire_Station,_Pittsfield_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</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:Old_Central_Fire_Station,_Pittsfield_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"91001826","name":"Park Square Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/park-square-historic-district-boundary-increase-91001826/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794244","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Central_Fire_Station_(Pittsfield,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7083626"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/berkshire-county/old-central-fire-station-77000177/"}