{"nrhp_refnum":"95000580","name":"Engine House No. 16","other_names":["Central Ohio Fire Museum"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"260 N. Fourth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Columbus","county":"Franklin County","state":"OH","lat":39.96829002900006,"lon":-82.99675429699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-05-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Engine House #16 is a three-story brick fire station at 260 North Fourth Street in downtown Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, built in 1908. It now houses the Central Ohio Fire Museum.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an excellent, well-preserved example of a turn-of-the-century Columbus firehouse under Criterion C. It was the last Columbus firehouse built for horse-drawn apparatus. After restoration it is the only one of four nearly identical engine houses that keeps its original appearance.","narrative":"Engine House #16 is a brown-red and buff brick firehouse at 260 North Fourth Street in downtown Columbus, completed in 1908. It has three engine bays, a rear stable, polychrome brickwork, corbelled parapets and an 80-foot square hose tower with arcaded, round-arched openings. It was the last Columbus firehouse built for horse-drawn engines; motorized apparatus arrived the following year. The station closed in 1982 when a new Engine House #1 opened, and a nonprofit then leased it from the city to create a fire museum. A 1990 restoration rebuilt the facade, parapet and tower using historic photographs and custom-colored brick. Interior features such as the pressed tin ceiling, horse stall doors and central staircase survive. It was one of four nearly identical engine houses, and it is the only one that retains its original appearance. It was listed for its architecture as a well-preserved example of early twentieth-century civic design.","period_of_significance":"1908","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals (heavily influenced by Italianate, not fitting a particular stylistic category)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Restored and in use as the Central Ohio Fire Museum; exterior restoration undertaken in 1990. The fire station closed in 1982.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:06.998114-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/95000580.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000580/41cd0affb7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000580/41cd0affb7-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Engine_House_No._16,_Central_Ohio_Fire_Museum.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Engine_House_No._16,_Central_Ohio_Fire_Museum.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988358","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Ohio_Fire_Museum","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60521324"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/franklin-county/engine-house-no-16-95000580/"}