{"nrhp_refnum":"84002101","name":"Central Fire Station","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Leonard and School Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Taunton","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.90400136900007,"lon":-71.09180445299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick, two-and-a-half-story fire station at the corner of Leonard and School Streets in Taunton, Massachusetts, built in 1869 and still used as a fire station. It was designed by architect A.E. Swasey, Jr. and built by Z. Sherman.","why_significant":"It is the earliest surviving fire station in Taunton and is considered perhaps the most stylistically well-designed, with fully developed Italianate details. It survives in virtually unaltered condition, retaining its original engine doors. It was the city's first permanent firehouse serving central Taunton, built during a wave of municipal improvement after the city's incorporation in 1864.","narrative":"Central Fire Station, at the corner of Leonard and School Streets in Taunton, is a brick firehouse completed in 1869 for the city. It is the oldest surviving fire station in Taunton and still serves as one. Architect A.E. Swasey, Jr., an early work of the later well-known Boston designer, planned the building, and Z. Sherman carried out the construction. The square-plan, cross-gabled structure has four large engine bays on the Leonard Street front, framed by granite posts and lintels and fitted with their original double doors. Windows have peaked granite lintels and sills, the slate roof has a modillioned box cornice, and a hose-drying tower with a wooden balustrade rises at the rear. The building was valued as the city's first permanent firehouse for central Taunton, built during the municipal growth that followed incorporation in 1864, and for the quality of its Italianate design and its remarkably intact condition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect A.E. Swasey, Jr.; builder Z. Sherman","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is a fire station, owned by the City of Taunton; described as virtually unaltered and not moved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.82377-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/87/7893/63789387/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002101.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002101/6c948a0f0d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002101/6c948a0f0d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taunton_Central_Fire_Station.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taunton_Central_Fire_Station.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789387","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Fire_Station_(Taunton,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5061086"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/central-fire-station-84002101/"}