Dorchester Illustration no. 2501 Fire Station on River Street
When Dorchester was a separate town from Boston, the fire station at Lower Mills had the name Fountain Engine no. 1. In the early 1880s the City replaced a wooden fire house at the corner of Temple Street and River Street with the brick building shown in the illustrations.
We have right and left views of the fire house as seen from River Street. Temple Street is to the right of the fire house, between it and the Village Congregational Church. The top image is of an earlier vintage than the bottom. There is no bell tower shown in the top image, but in the bottom image, it is possible to see a portion of a bell tower over the roof.
The following is from the Dorchester Reporter, January 16, 2020:
Engine 16 originally operated out of a firehouse that was built in 1869 at the corner of Temple and River Street in Lower Mills. The building was unique in that assigned fire apparatus operated from two sides of the firehouse and from two floor levels. The main address of 2 Temple St., a side street off River Street, was the quarters of the engine company, while below, on the River Street side, 51 River St. was the address of the ladder company.
The firehouse was known as Dorchester’s S. H. Hebard Engine No. 1 until annexation day in 1870, when it became Boston’s S. H. Hebard Engine Company 16, and Dorchester’s General Grant Ladder No. 1 became Boston’s General Grant Ladder Company 6.
On June 1, 1938, Ladder 6 moved to the firehouse of Engine Company 19 in the Mattapan section of Dorchester. In 1958, Engine 16 moved into a new firehouse at 9 Gallivan Blvd., from which it continues to operate today. The company covers Dorchester, Mattapan, and parts of Roslindale, and responds to roughly 2,100 incidents per year.