{"nrhp_refnum":"85003238","name":"Fire Engine House No. 9","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1810--1812 Keene St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Houston","county":"Harris County","state":"TX","lat":29.775659327000028,"lon":-95.35158339499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick fire station at 1810-1812 Keene Street in the Fifth Ward of Houston, Harris County, Texas, erected in 1899 and designed by architect William A. McMillen.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is architecturally and historically significant as a well-preserved example of Houston's turn-of-the-century firehouses, one of only two 19th-century fire houses still standing in the city. It is tied to the start of the city's paid, professional fire department and to the growth of the Fifth Ward. It is also one of only two surviving works by McMillen.","narrative":"Built in 1899 at 1810-1812 Keene Street, Fire Engine House No. 9 is a two-story loadbearing brick fire station in Houston's Fifth Ward. Architect William A. McMillen designed it as one of several stations built after the city created a paid fire department in 1895. It housed five firemen, a horse-drawn hose wagon and a steam pumper until about 1908, then stored a Hayes Aerial Truck. The fire department left the building by the 1920s, and a mattress company and later a roofing company occupied it without major alterations. Surviving features include a black metal cornice, a decorative brick parapet, cast-stone window hoods, original wooden doors and interior woodwork. Only two 19th-century fire houses remain in Houston, and this is one of them. It is also one of two known surviving works by McMillen. The building is vacant and in fair condition, and it stands among empty lots in a neighborhood damaged by fires.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"William A. McMillen","architectural_style":"Richardsonian Romanesque in spirit (window treatment)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as currently vacant and in fair condition, structurally sound, with restoration planned; original windows are in storage.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:20.956271-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/9724/40972426/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/85003238.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972426","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110002186"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/harris-county/fire-engine-house-no-9-85003238/"}