January 2026.
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Columbus’s Engine House No. 6, in Franklinton, is one of the city’s remaining Victorian fire stations. Although currently vacant, there are plans for its adaptive reuse. It is in a rapidly gentrifying part of Franklinton and will not remain in deteriorated condition for long.
Engine House No. 6 is located at 540 West Broad Street in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by a Columbus rowhouse to the north, Broad Street to the south, the Franklin Station apartments to the east, and Mill Street to the west.
History
Columbus was growing rapidly in the late 19th century, and several fire stations were built to service the population that was settling outside of downtown. As the city built more water lines away from downtown, it resulted in a drop in water pressure, as the pumps at the time struggled to maintain it at greater distances. In the 1880s, the fire department relied on hose reels, an early type of fire engine that was simply a cart with a spool that held a hose, which was then attached to a fire hydrant and used to extinguish the fire. With the poor water pressure further away from the center of Columbus, the city had to reinvest in steam-powered pumping engines to compensate. However, there were two issues--due to maintenance expenses, the city put their two 1870s-vintage pumping engines in their reserves; and the existing fire stations were built for the smaller hose reels, meaning they could not fit the larger pumping engines.
1887 Sanborn map depicting Engine House No. 6’s predecessor. (Library of Congress)
A fire station was built on the current site in 1880, which was a similar brick design that was smaller in size and known as Hose House 6. At this time, the area of Franklinton that surrounded it was platted but few houses were built there. The 1891 Sanborn map shows the building labeled “Being Built,” and a few more structures were built nearby. This new station was expressly built to accommodate larger engines as well as a hose reel.
1894 view of the newly constructed Engine House No. 6. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
Engine House No. 6 opened in 1892. It is a Richardsonian Romanesque design by Canadian architect John Flynn. Flynn worked as an architect in Ohio for a brief period in the late 1880s to early 1890s, and he designed the first six Engine Houses. However, it is unknown what other buildings he designed in Ohio, and how he came to be the fire department’s architect at the time.
One of the station’s steam-powered pumping engines in 1919. (Wikimedia)
The fire station’s tall tower was not only ornamental, it was used to hang hoses and dry them. In the rear of the building is a stable and feed loft area that once housed the horses used to pull the wagon-bound fire engines. The Columbus Fire Department used horse-drawn engines until 1919, when they were gradually replaced by automobiles. The stables were then converted into a kitchen for the firemen.
In 1913, during the severe flood that impacted Franklinton, water reached the second floor’s windows. Engine House No. 6 was repaired and reopened soon afterwards. The station also has the distinction of having one of the first emergency squads in the entire country, which began service in 1934. They seemed to specialize in water rescues (plausible based on its proximity to the Scioto River), though it’s unknown if an ambulance was part of their entourage. However, the station closed during the Great Depression due to funding issues. It’s also unclear how long it remained closed, as it may have been brief but could have extended into the 1950s.
1958 view of the station with a more modern fire engine. (NRHP listing)
The building has seen some alterations over time, mostly dating to the period immediately before its closure. The hose tower’s pyramidal roof was removed in the early 1960s, only leaving the stubs of the brick piers supporting it. The bell is now part of the City of Columbus Firefighters Memorial near City Hall and the Kinneary Courthouse. Additionally, some window openings have been infilled with cinder blocks and glass blocks. At the same time, the surrounding area’s character was rapidly changing. Many of the houses that once surrounded the fire station were demolished and replaced with industrial buildings.
Historic photo of Station 6, which replaced Engine House No. 6. (Wikimedia)
The process that led to the construction of Engine House No. 6, the modernizing technology of firefighting equipment, also led to its downfall. Larger fire engines and more modern equipment began to render the Victorian fire stations obsolete by the 1960s. Engine House No. 6 closed in 1966, and the new Station 6 opened on the far northeast side of the city at 5750 Maple Canyon Avenue in 1969.
In 1967, the fire station was listed for sale, and it was purchased by William Rea for $48,000, who intended to open a combined electronics store, offices for his “Christian Free Drive-In Theater,” and a Franklinton history museum. In 1975, his son James opened the Jimmy Rea Electronics store inside. (Evidently, the rest was a bit of a stretch.) The owners added gross 70s alterations such as modern partitions, a dropped ceiling, and wall coverings at that time, obscuring whatever original finishes remained at that point. However, the second floor remained completely intact, minus the removed fire pole and furniture. Additionally, the stables retained their historic features even as late as 2016.
2012 view of the station as Jimmy Rea Electronics. (Google Maps)
More recently, Jimmy Rea Electronics closed in 2014, and Engine House No. 6 was purchased by the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority shortly afterwards. Plans for reuse included the offices of Heritage Ohio and retail or restaurant space on the first floor (kind of like Gemut Biergarten in Engine House No. 12). The two organizations worked to get the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. In 2019, Heritage Ohio was joined by the Columbus Historical Society, though the former dropped out in 2020 due to costs and moved to the Ohio History Center alone. After protracted effort, the Columbus Historical Society successfully acquired the building in 2021. It is currently being restored to serve as their new headquarters, and this work is being done by Schooley Caldwell.
Photos
A nice oblique view of Engine House No. 6 from Broad Street:
This building has a very squat and solid design, emphasized by its Richardsonian Romanesque style. I know a lot of sources claim Romanesque Revival instead, but this is kind of a square vs. rectangle situation where all Richardsonian designs are part of the larger Romanesque Revival movement. Particularly, the thick stone details seem more indicative of that style of architecture to me. I think the truncated tower actually serves the building better, it has a rougher, more castellated appearance versus the whimsical peaked roof it had before.
Broad Street facade:
Aside from the asymmetrically placed tower, this side is very symmetrical.
Engraved voussoirs above the doors:
These doors are vintage but not original, they probably date to when the fire station was motorized. The original doors were spring-loaded and opened outward.
Eastern counterpart:
I love the decorative stonework here, namely in the pinnacles, arches, and gable:
Corner of Broad and Mill:
The short one-story section is where the stables used to be. Note how many of the window openings on this side are infilled. To think that this is one of the best-preserved historic engine houses…
A closer look at the tower:
It has three tall, thin openings on each face, which are right below where the opening used to be. Remember, these towers were used to drip-dry the hoses after each job, so they were functional as well as decorative.
Sources:
https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/16000595
https://www.columbushistory.org/enginehouse6
https://www.columbus.gov/Services/Public-Safety/Fire/Find-a-Fire-Station/Station-6
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4084cm.g4084cm_g066561887/?sp=2
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4084cm.g4084cm_g066561891/?sp=3
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4084cm.g4084cm_g06656190101/?sp=3
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/11477/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_House_No._6_(Columbus,_Ohio)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_stations_in_Columbus,_Ohio
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