Engine Company No. 26

Architect: Nathan C. Wyeth
Style: Colonial Revival
City: Washington, DC

Engine Company 26 is a firehouse at 1340 Rhode Island Avenue NE, on the line between Brentwood and Brookland, designed by DC municipal architect Nathan C. Wyeth in the Colonial Revival style. The building went into service on April 27, 1937, first housing Truck Company 15; Engine Company 26 itself relocated here in 1940 from its earlier quarters on 22nd Street, which is separately listed on the National Register as Old Engine Company 26.

the building

Aerial ladder trucks. The house originally ran a 1919 American LaFrance 85-foot aerial ladder truck, swapped out not long after for a 1923 American LaFrance 75-foot model.

the style

Wyeth used the Colonial Revival idiom common to DC firehouses of the era, giving a working municipal building the restrained, dignified brick front associated with civic architecture rather than pure utility.

the architect

Nathan C. Wyeth was a longtime DC municipal architect responsible for a number of the city's firehouses and public buildings.

significance

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 2011 and designated a DC Historic Landmark, as part of a multiple-property submission covering firehouses across Washington.

nearby

Ralph Bunche House 0.4 mi · International Style
Hecht Company Warehouse 0.7 mi · Streamline Moderne · 1937
Newton Theater 0.8 mi · Art Deco
Crummell, Alexander School 0.8 mi
Old Engine Company 26 0.8 mi · Tudor Revival
Franciscan Monastery & Memorial Church of the Holy Land 0.9 mi · Byzantine · 1899

All 315 buildings in Washington, DC