The architectural firm of Braunton & Liebert, driven by the creative pen of Hugh Braunton, designed and erected a number of downtown El Paso buildings in 1916-1917. Included were the Lanier Building on Stanton, longtime home of Rogers Furniture and current location of the Stanton House Hotel; the Martin Building at Main & Stanton, now the Martin Lofts; the Harry Turner Building at 700 S. El Paso; and the building featured today, the El Paso Central Fire Station at Campbell and Overland.
These buildings sent a shockwave through the El Paso architectural world, because these newcomers had just arrived in town from Seattle, Washington in early 1916, after a stint in Vancouver. Their impact on the Sun City still paled in comparison to long-established architects like Ernest Krause, Edward Kneezell and Trost & Trost, nevertheless they struck like lightening. After John Grant Liebert left the firm shortly afterwards, Hugh Braunton continued to design some of El Paso's most spectacular buildings, including his masterpiece, the 1930 Austin High School.
The Central Fire Station opened in October, 1917. It was a three-story brick and concrete building atop a concrete foundation with its garage doors facing to the north, and was designed to be fireproof. The build cost was a cool $35,000. It was built by what many consider El Paso's premier contractor, R.E. McKee.
The first floor was, of course, designed to hold all of the FD's apparatus, including what they called "weapons" to fight fires. The second floor included the dormitory and the Chief's apartment and office. Up on the third was home to the switchboard, kitchen with pantry, and assorted offices.
The building served as the Central Firehouse until late 1980 or early 1981 (that's 63 years of service!), when the Central moved a half-block east on Overland into their current building. The old brick firehouse still stands today, at 200 S. Campbell, as the El Paso Police Department's Central Regional Command. The building is in outstanding condition today at 103 years of age - another monument to the architectural genius of Hugh Braunton.
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Citing newspapers.com
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| Circa 1980 photograph courtesy of the El Paso Fire Department Twitter Account, at https://twitter.com/eptxfire/status/964193590099378178 |
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| Google Earth Street View, accessed 03/11/2021 |
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| Google Earth Street View, accessed 03/11/2021 |
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| Google Earth Street View, accessed 03/11/2021 |
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| Google Earth Street View, accessed 03/11/2021 |
