Hose Company No. 5 - Lost Bayou Historic District - Galveston, TX - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
Section 8 - Page 28

Statement of Significance

The Lost Bayou Historic District is a residential area in Galveston that includes a cohesive collection of mid-to-late nineteenth- and early-to-mid twentieth-century residences. Roughly bound by the alley north of Avenue K, 21st Street (Moody Avenue) to the west, the alleys south of avenues M 1/2 and M, and 16th and 14th streets to the east, the district presents a mix of popular architectural forms and styles from multiple eras. The neighborhood’s mixed housing stock not only reflects some of Galveston’s most significant events and periods in its history, but the variety of house styles and plans also reflects how these events impacted residential and neighborhood development. The district also reflects the building trends and patterns of less-affluent neighborhoods in the city. Developed on land shared with Hitchcock’s Bayou, which was eventually filled in and “lost,” this area was considered “subpar” in comparison to land north of Broadway Street - including what became the East End neighborhood - and therefore primarily became home to the working and middle classes. As such, Lost Bayou consists largely of modest-sized homes, and is considered one of the best collections of standard architecture - commonly built using standardized plans and readily available construction materials - in Galveston. Though most of the houses in the district represent common types and styles for their era, several larger, more ornate houses are dotted throughout the neighborhood and notable architects Nicholas Clayton and Alfred Muller, among others, are represented in Lost Bayou. The Lost Bayou Historic District is nominated under Criterion C in the area of Architecture at the local level of significance, and 401 resources contribute to the historic district. The period of significance for the Lost Bayou Historic District begins in 1856—the date of the oldest building in the district-and stretches to 1940. By 1940, the major periods of development within the Lost Bayou historic district were over and all the most-significant buildings were extant. Additionally, building construction after 1940 was minimal, sporadic, and did not reflect important postwar architectural trends.

United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
Section 8 - Page 38

Fire House, 1891 | 1614 Avenue K – Hose Company No. 5

In 1841, Galveston took the first steps in creating a fire department by appointing wardens to five areas of the city to watch and warn citizens of fires. Two years later, the first volunteer firefighting company formed in the city. Over the next 40 years, the municipal government provided a limited number of street cisterns, hoses, engines, and an electric alarm system. In 1885, one month before the devastating fire, Galveston’s fire department officially formed. As water systems improved and expanded, so too did the fire department. In 1891, Hose Co. No. 5 organized at 1614 Avenue K.

The two-story, three-bay building, now clad in stucco, was designed by architect William H. Tyndall with Italianate stylistic influences. The building has a flat roof with a parapet. A garage door in the middle of the first floor is flanked by two single-door entries, one of which has been enclosed. Four double-hung windows occupy the three second-story bays. Despite exterior wall material and other minimal alterations, the building remains easily recognizable as a former fire station. In 1955, the city decommissioned Hose Co. No. 5, and the building is now a residence. Despite this change in use, the building is distinctive as a noteworthy local example of a municipal building with Victorian Italianate detailing.