The Pennsylvania Historical Marker in front of the building at 1016 South Street proclaims it was “One of 22 fire companies established under the Philadelphia Fire Department in 1871. In 1919, it became a segregated African American unit whose members distinguished themselves through professional service. Desegregated in 1952.”
Those few words do not tell the whole story of Engine 11, nor what the future might hold for the edifice.
In 1871, Philadelphia established its professional fire department, replacing about 90 volunteer companies.
Isaac Jacobs was hired as the Philadelphia Fire Department’s first Black firefighter, joining Engine 11 in 1886, according to documents submitted to the Philadelphia Historical Commission. “Despite his title, he seems not to have been allowed to fight fires, and instead was restricted to caring for the horses and performing other menial duties. Perhaps because of this, he only stayed in the position until 1891.”
He was followed at Engine 11 by Stephen Presco in 1891. Unlike Jacobs, Presco was allowed to take part in firefighting activities. In 1907, he became the first Black firefighter in Philadelphia to be killed in the line of duty. Following his death, William Sheaf was hired as the third Black firefighter employed at Engine 11.
According to the Philadelphia’s Fireman’s Hall Museum, Engine 11 was moved to a new station at 1016 South Street in 1902. The group’s website says in 1918, “only African-American firefighters were assigned there,” making Engine 11 a segregated company.
When Engine 11 became overcrowded, museum curator Brian Andersona says the firefighters were transferred to a new all-Black company within the city’s fire department, Fireboat Number 1. The Delaware River boat helped fight fires along the city’s waterfront, and was based at Second and Girard Streets. The Fire Department unofficially began desegregating in February, 1949, transferring members of Engine 11 and Fireboat 1 were transferred to stations throughout the city.
On August 30, 1976 Engine 11 moved to a new station at 601-09 South Street, where it remains to this day.
The three-story structure that once housed the historic company is now owned by the Waters Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church. The church is adjacent to the former firehouse at 609 S. Clifton St.
The building hosts weddings and funeral receptions, and provides storage space on its third floor, said church pastor Rev. Stephanie Atkins. The pole that firefighters once slid down to get to their trucks is now gone, but the hole on the second floor remains. Non-perishable food the church distributes to those in need every other Tuesday is now kept up there.
“This building is a monument to their service,” said the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia in its application to the historical commission.
In 2021, the group nominated the property to be included in the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. In its nomination, PAGP said “the building is associated with an event of importance to the history of the City, being the desegregation of the Philadelphia Fire Department in 1953. Under Criterion E, the nomination argues that the building, constructed in 1902, is significant for its architect, Philip H. Johnson, who designed numerous public buildings for the City.”
The building “serves as a reminder of the evils of segregation,” said Paul Steinke, executive director of PAGP. “At the same time reminds us of the pride and resilience of Black Philadelphians who performed a noble public service despite the obstacles that institutionalized racism placed in their way.”
Rev. Atkins, who became pastor of the church in May 2021, said she hopes to raise funds to make the building a hub of the surrounding community, which is what the original firehouse accomplished.
She said it would be fitting that a site that once served the people could again play an important role in building community among all residents.
“Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I see that in both ways there is a forging of community. What do firefighters do? Not just rescue, but they build community wherever firehouses are located,” she said.
“I just don’t think we’re connected to each other, and I think people stay in their pockets, but we want to [make] the firehouse as the hub of South Street, especially the lower end of South Street that brings the neighbors back into fellowship and community with each other,” Atkins said.
“It’s a space with a lot of potential,” she said. “The challenge for me has been to get persons who want to help me fund and or look for funding, to be able to make it a community space,” she said. “Ideally, I would like it to be a hope center, where we merge the two communities.”
“Waters is an AME church, which is an African Methodist Episcopal Church like Mother Bethel, but we’re in a gentrified area in the community. All around me is not African-American, but because we own the space and we reside there, I would love to have us come together as a community, and to be a center of hope on South Street whereby people could utilize our space to (bring) their businesses, bring their children, have us integrate and do some programs together,” Atkins said.
