This is the oldest firehouse to be found in Detroit. The Detroit fire department is one of the older ones in the nation, having been created in 1860. Twenty-three years later the structure you see was built to serve Steam Fire Company #11. They had a horse-drawn Silsby Steam Engine and Hose Reel. I do not know of any other buildings in Detroit designed by the firm that designed this building, Gascione and Sons. At the time, this was a rapidly growing area of the city with a large immigration of German, then Poles and then Eastern Europeans to the surrounding neighborhoods. You will note a three-story tower away from the Gratiot Avenue façade of the building. Perhaps this was used so that a fire officer could spot smoke and direct the team to the conflagration. However, it was also a drying rack for hoses. I presume that when the station was built, hoses had to be dried after use so that they could be rolled for reuse at the next fire. I wonder what sort of pulley arrangement was used to elevate the soaking wet hoses to a three-story height.
In 1916, Engine Company #11 switched from hoses to gasoline-powered fire engines. In 1972, the company moved away from this building, and in 1976, the unit was merged. From 1972 until 1976, a Fire Department Emergency Medical Services unit was based in this fire station. After they moved out, proposals were circulated to establish a Detroit Fire Department Historical Museum in this structure, but I believe that a shortage of funds has delayed that project for several decades.
Architects: Gascione and Sons
Contractor: A. Albrecht and Marlow Brothers
Date of construction: 1883
Use in 2010: Vacant fire house awaiting redevelopment
National Register of Historic Sites: Listed January 9, 1978
This local historic district includes just Engine House No. 11 at 2737 Gratiot.
City of Detroit Designated Historic District: Listed June 13, 1978
State of Michigan Registry of Historic Sites: P4480, Listed May 14, 1975
Photograph: Ren Farley; November, 2009
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