Station #19—known locally as the Northmoor Engine House– was the only Columbus fire station built during the Great Depression. It was built in between 1930 and 1931 for $39,887. Architecturally, the colonial revival building was intended to blend into the neighborhood—and it did so quite well. The building was dedicated on March 10, 1931 (shown). The station motto is “The Pride on High” and a lion is the mascot logo.

The engine house soon became too small to accommodate larger fire apparatus and engines had to be special ordered short and low to fit into the station’s small bays. At some point in time, the original bifold doors were replaced by overhead doors; a local resident stored the bifold doors and returned them for the latest, 2003, expansion. (Photo courtesy of Central Ohio Fire Museum)

Anyone out there recall the wonderful old log chairs that used to sit outside of the Northmoor fire station? Lore has it that they were made by prisoners at the old Ohio Penitentiary. Nowadays the few log chairs that remain in Clintonville are stored in the basement of the Northmoor station.

In the 1950s, The Columbus Dispatch ran an annual holiday decorating contest. The Northmoor fire house won several years in a row. (Photo courtesy of Central Ohio Fire Museum)