Happy Friday!
If you asked us to name the most iconic firehouse of all time (we know you didn’t ask but please humor us), we’d say the Ghostbusters headquarters. BUT if you asked us to name the most iconic firehouse in the Queen City, we’d say Charlotte Fire Station #6.
The charming (it’s not every day you call a firehouse charming) station was built in 1928 in a pre-depression era Charlotte. As the city was expanding outwards from the Center City, Charlotte needed new fire stations to provide fire safety in newly developed neighborhoods. Once the Eastover, Myers Park, Crescent Heights, and Elizabeth neighborhoods were annexed as suburbs in 1928, the station was built to serve these newly added areas.
Charlotte Fire Station #6 was designed by renowned North Carolina architect Charles C. Hook who designed many notable buildings in our city that are still around today (including the Gateway and Century Buildings - See Fact Friday 255).
It is one of three fire stations designed by Hook in the 1920s under an expansion program initiated by Charlotte Fire Chief Hendrix Palmer. Palmer served as Fire Chief for 21 years until 1948 and was widely heralded as a progressive innovator in the world of firefighting. He helped Charlotte reach a nationwide level of admiration for firefighting leadership in the '30s and '40s.
Until next week!
Chris.
Email me at chris@704shop.com if you have interesting Charlotte facts you’d like to share or just to provide feedback!
Information taken from:
CharlotteIsCreative.com, "Charlotte Fire Station #6," by Porter Metzler on July 7, 2020.
“We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.” – Frederick Douglass