Former Hennepin County judge pushes for historic designation for fire station that opened with an all-Black fire crew in 1907

Until recently, hardly anyone knew that an aging building on Hiawatha Avenue in south Minneapolis was once a fire station that housed an all-Black fire crew, a reflection of segregation in the early 1900s.

But the story of Station 24 and the controversy that surrounded its opening has emerged because of the intervention of former Hennepin County District Judge LaJune Lange, who is worried the 113-year-old former fire hall could be torn down. She’s launched a campaign to have the city designate it as a historic site.