The Fireboat House is a Renaissance Revival structure with Mission Revival elements. It was designed by Alfred A. Pyle of the State Board of Harbor Commissioners who also designed the Agriculture Building, and the bulkhead buildings of Piers 1½, 3, and 29. Pyle had previously worked under Willis Polk in the San Francisco office of D. H. Burnham & Co.

The Fireboat House is significant as San Francisco's only firehouse that serves the crews of her fireboats. It is a rare instance of cooperation between the Port and the Fire Department, because it is on Port property but controlled and staffed by the SFFD. It is connected to the berths of the City's two fireboats, Phoenix and Guardian, and thus it displays one of the surviving working maritime activities along the Embarcadero, a reminder of San Francisco's important maritime history.

The interior displays a rare integrity of iron spiral staircase, working brass fire poles, and intact tongue-and-groove surfaces for walls and ceilings. The exterior looks exactly like its 1916 photograph.

From San Francisco Planning Commission Resolution 14775 adopted January 28, 1999.

Vintage San Francisco Firehouses

Engine Company No. 1, 451 Pacific Avenue
Engine Company No. 2, 460 Bush Street
Engine Company No. 7, 3160 16th Street
Engine Company No. 8, 1648 Pacific Avenue
Engine Company No. 9 and Fire Boat House, Pier 22½, Embarcadero at Harrison

Engine Company No. 13, 1458 Valencia Street
Engine Company No. 14, 1051 McAllister Street
Engine Company No. 16, 909 Tennessee Street
Engine Company No. 21, 1152 Oak Street
Engine Company No. 22, 1348 10th Avenue

Engine Company No. 23, 3022 Washington Street
Engine Company No. 24, 100 Hoffman Avenue
Engine Company No. 25, 3305 Third Street
Engine Company No. 27, 52 Waller Street
Engine Company No. 30, 1757 Waller Street

Engine Company No. 31, 1088 Green Street
Engine Company No. 33, 117 Broad Street
Engine Company No. 37, 2501 25th Street
Engine Company No. 40, 1249 Clayton Street
Engine Company No. 43, 724 Brazil Avenue

Engine Company No. 44, 3816 22nd Street
Engine Company No. 47, 1298 Girard Street
Engine Company No. 48, 798 Wisconsin Street
Dennis T Sullivan Memorial Fire Chief's Home
Pumping Station No. 2
Underwriter's Fire Patrol, 147 Natoma Street

GuardiansofTheCity.org is the definitive Web guide to San Francisco firehouses, both vintage and modern.