In 1866, Charles E. Hartshorn built this Italianate structure to house Hook and Ladder Company No. 12. It was a functional firehouse where men stabled horse-drawn wagons and prepared to fight fires in the growing city. The municipal fire department eventually took over in 1870, and the building served its primary duty until 1967.
After the firehouse closed, the building sat vacant for five years. In 1972, the Women's Liberation Center moved in. The city initially charged the group a rent of just 1 dollar per month. The organization, also known as the Women's Firehouse, became a base of operations for second-wave feminism, focusing on issues such as abortion access and raising bail money for activists.
The building served as an incubator for a wide variety of feminist organizations. It hosted a feminist lending library, a marching band, and an art therapy collective. It also housed the Lesbian Switchboard and groups such as Dykes Opposed to Nuclear Energy.
Today, the building has traded the marching band for hard hats. Since the mid-1980s, the Nontraditional Employment for Women has occupied the space. They run pre-apprenticeships for women entering construction labor unions.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Kyle McLonely
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