{"nrhp_refnum":"83000692","name":"Massasoit Fire House No. 5","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"83 Freedom St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fall River","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.68961797800006,"lon":-71.16876653299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick fire station with a hipped roof at 83 Freedom Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, built in 1873 as the Massasoit Engine House and designed by Hartwell and Swazey.","why_significant":"It is one of four Ruskinian Gothic brick and granite fire stations designed by Hartwell and Swazey in 1873, all still standing. They were built in anticipation of the Fall River Water-Works and were considered the most modern fire stations of their day. It is an intact, richly detailed example of the public architecture of Fall River's period of greatest prosperity.","narrative":"Massasoit Fire House No. 5 is a two-story brick fire station at 83 Freedom Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. A cornerstone dates it to 1873. Hartwell and Swazey designed it in the Ruskinian Gothic style, and Stewart, Snow and Fass built it. Its brick walls have granite trim, round-arched windows with voussoirs, and a hip-roofed dormer. It was built for the City of Fall River as an engine house and is still city-owned. It was one of four similar Ruskinian Gothic fire stations the firm designed that year and placed in different parts of the city, in anticipation of the Fall River Water-Works. They were regarded as the most modern fire-fighting stations of the period, and all four remain standing. Ruskinian Gothic was the favored style for Fall River public buildings from about 1873 to 1880. This station is intact and richly detailed, and it represents the quality of public architecture from the city's most prosperous era. It was recognized under criteria for events and architecture.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect: Hartwell and Swazey; contractors: Stewart, Snow and Fass","architectural_style":"Ruskinian Gothic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Used for equipment and storage by the city tree department at the time of the 1980 survey.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.932667-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/7/7894/63789407/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000692.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000692/3e6388a597-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000692/3e6388a597-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Massasoit_Firehouse_FR.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Massasoit_Firehouse_FR.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789407","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massasoit_Fire_House_No._5","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715702"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/massasoit-fire-house-no-5-83000692/"}