The City of Magnolia Park was incorporated on July 1, 1913, on property first developed by John Thomas Brady in 1890 as a large excursion park. For the municipality's first ten years, city offices were located in various temporary facilities, all situated along Harrisburg Boulevard. By the early 1920s, officials decided to consolidate administrative offices for the mayor and city aldermen with the central fire station in a single building at the site of the city's original fire station, which was razed to make way for the new structure. Designed by the Houston architectural firm of McLelland & Fink and constructed by Magnolia Park contractor Charley Dahl, the combined city hall and fire station was dedicated on July 1, 1923, the tenth anniversary of Magnolia Park's incorporation. On October 16, 1926, the City of Houston annexed the city of Magnolia Park. This facility then served the Houston Fire Department as Fire Station No. 20 and as a regional battalion headquarters. A Houston Police Department substation was also located here. Eventually, the Houston Police Department vacated the building and Fire Station No. 20 was relocated in 1973. The building has also served as a Harris County precinct voting location. The two-story dark red brick and cast stone building is divided by vertical piers into sections, with an entrance door leading to a stairway to second floor offices on the west, and the fire station and subsequent additions to the east. Later renovations included a brick calaboose appended to the building's east side. The parapet over the entry contains a scalloped pediment framing a cast stone panel inscribed "City Hall." Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2009
Magnolia Park City Hall and Central Fire Station
The roadside stories worth pulling over for.
Magnolia Park City Hall and Central Fire Station is a historical marker in Houston, Harris County, dedicated in 2009. It is one of 422 historical markers documented in Harris County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 849 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 29.7370, -95.2947 near Houston. The nearest cataloged historic site is Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (historical marker), about 0.3 miles away. Others within a short drive include Lorenzo de Zavala, Magnolia Park, and Hidalgo Park Quiosco.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507015711. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
Get Texas Roam — all 28,000 sites in your pocket
See this site and every marker, cemetery, courthouse, museum and landmark across Texas on one live map — find what's near you, get directions, and check in as you roam.
or open the live map in your browser →Free · ad-free · the iOS app and the web map share one account, so your visits sync across both