Engine House # 2 and Hook & Ladder # 9
Also known as: Jersey Street Firehouse
Why it's listed
Located at the corner of Jersey Street and Plymouth Avenue on Buffalo's west side, this brick firehouse was built in 1875 as Engine House #2, designed by the firm of Porter & Watkins. In 1897 a Hook & Ladder #9 bay designed by Eckel & Ackerman was added to the north, matching the original in materials and detailing. The L-shaped building has a slate-covered Mansard roof with pedimented dormers, stone bands and carved capitals, and a metal cornice. A fire in January 1917, started when fuel fumes ignited in the apparatus room, damaged the building heavily. Repairs removed ornamental stone door arches and some pilasters, widened the truck doors, and added a concrete floor. The station served the Allentown neighborhood until 1997, when a new firehouse replaced it. The nomination counts it among the city's oldest surviving firehouses and links it to the growth of Buffalo's public services and fire department, as well as to its late-19th-century Second Empire architecture.
Significance in brief: The nomination finds it locally significant under Criterion C as a good example of a late-19th-century firehouse designed by two regionally successful architectural firms. It is also significant under Criterion A in Social History as one of Buffalo's oldest surviving firehouses, tied to the development of the city's public services and fire department.
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 11000272, listed May 11, 2011. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 310 Jersey St., Buffalo |
|---|---|
| County | Erie County |
| Listed | May 11, 2011 |
| Reference number | 11000272 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1875 - 1917 |
| Architect / builder | Porter & Watkins (Engine House); Eckel & Ackerman (Hook & Ladder) |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian/Second Empire |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Closed as an active fire station in 1997 after a consolidation of city services; current function is listed as work in progress, and the interior has been partly stripped. |
| Acreage | 0.2 |
| Coordinates | 42.90416, -78.88623 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
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 11000272.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5377717
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.