Fire Engine Company 46 (now Engine Company 46/ Hook & Ladder Company 17) was designed by the prominent architectural firm of Napoleon LeBrun & Sons, architects for the Fire Department between 1879 and 1895. Erected in two campaigns, the first building was completed in 1894 and the second in 1904 as the population and number of buildings expanded in the Bathgate section of the Bronx. The Renaissance Revival style building for Fire Engine Company 46 is an excellent example of LeBrun’s numerous midblock houses for the fire department, reflecting the firm’s careful attention to materials, stylistic detail, plan and setting. LeBrun’s firm helped to define the Fire Department’s expression of civic architecture, both functionally and symbolically, in more than forty buildings it designed during a period of intensive growth in northern Manhattan and the Bronx. This firehouse, with its classical details such as garlanded spandrel panels, dentiled courses, medallions and corbels, represents the city’s commitment to the important civic character of essential municipal services. The design of the original building, with three bays above a large, central vehicular entrance flanked by a smaller window and door, was repeated on the second building ten years later, and the entire composition creates a substantial street presence that continues to suggest the vital role of the Fire Department. Over the years, this building has housed several engine and hook and ladder companies, including Hook & Ladder Company 27 and 58, as well as the offices of the Fire Marshalls and the Bureau of Fire Communications; it currently is the home of Engine Company 46/ Hook & Ladder Company 17.
