Massasoit Fire House No. 5
Why it's listed
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.
Significance in brief: 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.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 83000692, listed February 16, 1983. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 83 Freedom St., Fall River |
|---|---|
| County | Bristol County |
| Listed | February 16, 1983 |
| Reference number | 83000692 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Architect: Hartwell and Swazey; contractors: Stewart, Snow and Fass |
| Architectural style | Ruskinian Gothic |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Used for equipment and storage by the city tree department at the time of the 1980 survey. |
| Acreage | 0.3 |
| Coordinates | 41.68962, -71.16877 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 83000692.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14715702
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.