{"nrhp_refnum":"89000530","name":"Elm Street Fire House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"24 Elm St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Southbridge","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.074330374000056,"lon":-72.03441982699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-06-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick fire station at 24 Elm Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts, built in 1899 and designed by Worcester architect George H. Clemence. It is a commercial and civic area building that still serves as the present fire station.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is tied to the late-19th-century expansion of Southbridge's commercial and institutional center. It also has an impressive brick Renaissance Revival design that blends Classical, Gothic and Romanesque elements. It is significant at the local level under criteria A and C and retains its integrity.","narrative":"Built in 1899 at 24 Elm Street, this brick fire house in Southbridge still serves as the town's fire station. Worcester architect George H. Clemence designed it, and the town appropriated $23,000 for construction. The building combines Classical, Gothic and Romanesque features: rusticated ground-floor masonry, keystones over the second-story windows, modillioned eaves, high-pitched roofs with dormers, round-arched windows, brick corbelling and a massive tower. The row of arched truck entrances and the tower mark it as a fire house, and such towers could hold an alarm bell and serve for drying hoses. It reflects a decade of fire-protection improvements in Southbridge, which included a town fire department established in 1880, a second new fire house in Globe Village in 1894, hydrants and street reservoirs, and a Gamewell alarm system. Mid-20th-century truck bays were added, but the building keeps its integrity. It was listed for its link to the growth of the town center and for its design, under criteria A and C.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"George H. Clemence, Worcester","architectural_style":"Eclectic, Late-19th Century (described elsewhere as Renaissance Revival, mixing Classical, Gothic and Romanesque elements)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition is good. It is the present fire station, and additional truck bays were added in the mid-20th century.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.028808-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/57/7934/63793457/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000530.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000530/ffa138da92-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000530/ffa138da92-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southbridge_Fire_Station.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southbridge_Fire_Station.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793457","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elm_Street_Fire_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5366332"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/elm-street-fire-house-89000530/"}