Columbia Central Fire Station

National Register Listing

Street Address:

1001 Senate Street, Columbia, SC (Richland County)

Alternate Name:

Columbia Fire Department Headquarters; Senate Street Station

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817740147

Description and Narrative:

The Columbia Central Fire Station, constructed between 1949 and 1951, is significant as an excellent example of Moderne architecture of the early 1950s and for its association with noted South Carolina architect Heyward S. Singley. Singley designed several fire stations in Columbia between 1940 and 1954. The Columbia Central Fire Station is not only the largest but also the most architecturally distinctive of Singley’s designs. A fine example of the Moderne/International style, with its relative lack of ornamentation, flat roof, and horizontal bands of windows, the Columbia Central Fire Station consists of two buildings and a structure. The main building, a two-story masonry fire station with a rectangular plan, and the fire truck garage building, a one-story masonry building located in the northeast corner of the property, were constructed in 1949-50. The drill tower, a six-story reinforced concrete structure located near the northwest corner of the site, was constructed in 1951. The Central Fire Station served as the Columbia Fire Department’s Headquarters from 1950 until 1995, when it was abandoned for a new facility. Listed in the National Register September 25, 2009.

Period of Significance:

1949 – 1951;1949;1951

Level of Significance:

Local

Area of Significance:

Architecture

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

September 25 2009

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