Fire Station No. 19 (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Fire Station No. 19 | |
Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
Coordinates | 44°58′35″N 93°13′35″W / 44.97639°N 93.22639°W |
---|---|
Built | 1893 |
Architect | Minneapolis Public Works |
Architectural style | Minneapolis Horse Drawn Series |
NRHP reference No. | 82002960[1] |
Added to NRHP | January 14, 1982 |
Fire Station No. 19, now the site of a
Besides its role as a firehouse, Historic Fire Station No. 19 was also the birthplace of kittenball, a variant of softball. Louis Rober, a lieutenant at the fire station between 1896 and 1906, adapted the rules of baseball to create a game that would use less space, time, and equipment than a regular baseball game.[3] He created the game so firefighters could get exercise while waiting for a fire alarm. Early teams included the "Kittens" of Engine Company 19, "Rats" of Engine Company 9, "Whales" of Engine Company 4, "Salisburys" from a mattress factory, "Pillsburys" from nearby flour mills, and the "Central Avenues". By 1906, more than 20 teams were playing in summer leagues.[4]
The building was acquired in 1977 by local architects who turned the building into offices under the name Station 19 Architects.[5] The firm primarily creates designs for churches in Minnesota.
There was some concern in the mid-2000s decade that the University of Minnesota would have the structure demolished to make way for rearranged roads leading to and from the then-unbuilt
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ "Station 19 Architects". Retrieved 2013-08-08.
- ^ a b "Fire Station #19". Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission. Archived from the original on 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
- ^ "Minneapolis F.D. Invents Game of Softball". Retrieved 2013-08-08.
- ^ Ehrlich, Jennifer (1997-09-15). "Adapting fire houses: Former stations rejuvenated with new uses". Twin Cities Business Journal. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
- ^ Hoffmann, Bill (March 2, 2006). "Alarm bells going off at old Station 19". Minneapolis Bridgeland News. Archived from the original on 2009-08-09. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
External links
- Media related to Fire Station No. 19 at Wikimedia Commons
- Station 19 Architects