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The building at the corner of West Marshall St. and Brook Rd. was constructed in 1883 as a new fire station and police station. This structure replaced an earlier, smaller fire station on the site from 1849 and continued in use as a fire station until 1968. The building was converted into a firefighting and police museum by the 1990s. In 1995, the building was entered into the National Register of Historic Places. The triangular building is considered the best-preserved historic fire station building in Richmond. Gallery5, a community arts non-profit, has occupied the first floor since 2005 with visual and performing arts spaces. The gallery offers free admission on the first Friday of each month. The second floor contains "The Loft," an open space for events leasing with exposed brick walls and tall ceilings. The entire 7,000-square-foot office building was renovated in 2019 and was listed for sale in 2023.


Front of Steamer Co. No. 5 building in 1994 when it held a fire/ police museum (Richardson 1994)

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Steamer Co. No. 5 (orange arrow) on 1886 map; fire house on 1st floor, police station on 2nd floor (Sanborn p. 3)

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First-floor plan map of Steamer Co. No. 5 building from 1994 NRHP nomination (Richardson)

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Steamer Co. No. 5 ("Richmond Fire Dept. Eng. Ho. No. 5") on 1905 Sanborn map; hose tower in rear wing (p. 1)

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Steamer Co. No. 5 on 1952 Sanborn map with new triangular rear wing: two-story, brick (Sanborn Vol. 1 p. 1)

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Vintage steam fire engine museum display by equipment door of Steamer Co. No. 5 in 1994; fire pole on left (Richardson)

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Rear addition (right; post-1905) to Steamer Co. No. 5 building (left; 1883) in detail from 1994 photo (Richardson)

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A former fire station building stood on this triangular-shaped corner lot where Brooke Avenue met W. Marshall St. in 1849; the lot was purchased by the city in 1849 from William and Jane Walthall. The original building at the corner was only 18 feet square. The city purchased an adjoining lot in 1871 and a third lot in 1883, both from James Kelly and his wife. The addition built on the 1871 lot still didn't provide enough room. The city allocated $10,000 for the new combination fire station and police station in 1883. Steamer No. 5 was already using a steam engine by 1881 when the city purchased a new steam engine for their station. Crowds gathered to watch a demonstration of the new engine, built by the Silsby Manufacturing Co. of Seneca Falls, New York; the crane-necked steamer with a nickel-plated boiler had a capacity of 600 gallons of water per minute and weighed about 5,800 pounds, resting on Archibald's patented wooden wheels. This was the first rotary steam engine purchased by the fire department and was shipped from New York by steamboat, courtesy of George W. Allen & Co.

The new building was constructed on all three lots in 1883 for Steamer Company Number 5. The two-story, Italianate style building on a granite foundation featured brick walls covered in stucco and scored to resemble stone (on the two sides that faced streets). The elaborate cornice, window and door hoods, and belt course were made of pressed metal; the roof was tin. Two bays along the front projected toward W. Marshall St. and were connected by a wood and metal balcony; below was the main pedestrian doorway. It contained a fire station on the first floor and a police station for the Third District on the second story. To the rear (north) of the building, along Brooke Ave., was a one-story wooden wing with a 66-foot-tall bell/ hose tower (see the 1886 Sanborn map image). The oblique angle of the building at the street corner made it easier for horse-drawn fire engines to leave and enter the building through the equipment door (compared to buildings set at a right angle to the street). Bars on a second-floor window facing Brook Ave. pinpointed the location of the jail. The second-floor location of the "four roomy cells" meant "no chance of breaking" out, according to a local newspaper article. The building was projected to be ready for occupancy on December 1st, 1883.

In early 1904, the President of the Board of Fire Commissioners noted the need for additional funds for a new "larger and more modern" engine for Steamer Company No. 5, stating that their present machine was twelve years old and too light duty to handle the increasing growth of manufacturing in its district. The 1905 Sanborn fire insurance map showed the entire building as Richmond Fire Department Engine House No. 5; the police station moved out in 1898. The fire station's six men used five horses and 2,000 feet of fire hose. The equipment was noted as "La France Steamer No. 3" and they fought fires with a combination of hose (water) and chemicals. Part of the second floor was converted into feed storage for the horses, whose four stalls were below; brass poles were installed to allow firemen on the second floor to quickly access the first-floor equipment. The wooden rear wing still contained a hose tower in 1905; hoses were hung to dry to prevent rotting.

A former front window was converted into an equipment door in 1916 and the former equipment door was filled in; this accompanied the station's upcoming switch from horse-drawn to motorized fire engines. Ornate pressed tin ceilings on both stories may have been installed in the 1910s. By 1952, the rear wooden wing of the firehouse with the hose tower had been removed and replaced with a two-story brick extension of the building. Hoses were hung from pegs in the rafters of the new addition and dangled from the second floor into the first floor. The flooring on the ground floor had been replaced with concrete. The Richmond Fire Department moved out of the building in 1968 to a new home for Engine Company No. 5. A museum on firefighting and policing occupied the building by the 1990s.

Gallery5, a non-profit local arts organization, has leased the ground floor space since 2005. Brass fire poles have remained intact in the galleries as a reminder of the building's former use. The art gallery in Gallery5 offers a new show every month that opens on the first Friday; free admission is provided on that day. The non-profit also offers live performances. The second floor contains "The Loft," an open space for events leasing with exposed brick walls and tall ceilings. The space can accommodate events with up to 75 guests. The building underwent more renovations in 2019 and was offered for sale in 2023.

Anonymous. "Great Fire Closed Year... President Frischkorn, of Fire Commissioners...." Times-Dispatch (Richmond) January 5th, 1904. 3-3.

Gallery5. About Us, Gallery5. January 1st, 2024. Accessed March 11th, 2024. https://gallery5arts.org/about-us-2.

LoopNet. 200 W Marshall St, LoopNet. March 7th, 2024. Accessed March 11th, 2024. https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/200-W-Marshall-St-Richmond-VA/29625702/.

Richardson, Selden. NRHP nomination of Steamer Company Number 5, 200 West Marshall Street, Richmond, Virginia. National Register of Historic Places. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1994.

Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Richmond, Virginia. New York, NY. Sanborn Map Company, 1886.

Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Richmond, Virginia. New York, NY. Sanborn Map Company, 1905.

Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Richmond, Virginia. Volume 1. New York, NY. Sanborn Map Company, 1952.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources (VDHR): https://web.archive.org/web/20130813211955/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Richmond/127-0370_Steamer_Company_No.5_1995_Final_Nomination.pdf

Library of Congress (LOC): https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn09064_001/

VDHR: https://web.archive.org/web/20130813211955/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Richmond/127-0370_Steamer_Company_No.5_1995_Final_Nomination.pdf

LOC: https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn09064_003/

LOC: https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn09064_016/

VDHR: https://web.archive.org/web/20130813211955/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Richmond/127-0370_Steamer_Company_No.5_1995_Final_Nomination.pdf

VDHR: https://web.archive.org/web/20130813211955/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Richmond/127-0370_Steamer_Company_No.5_1995_Final_Nomination.pdf

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