Underwriters Salvage Corps (Cincinnati, Ohio)

The Underwriters Salvage Corps is a historic building in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Located on Eighth Street in the city's downtown, it has historically been the home of a firm that worked together with both the Cincinnati Fire Department and local fire insurance companies.[2]

Underwriters Salvage Corps
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Cincinnati Local Historic Landmark
Front of the Salvage Corps
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Location	110-112 E. 8th St., Cincinnati, Ohio
Coordinates	39°6′18″N 84°30′42″W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1897
Architect	William Schuberth
Architectural style	Queen Anne
NRHP reference No.	82003589[1]
Added to NRHP	July 15, 1982

Local insurance companies formed the Underwriters Salvage Corps in 1886 at the end of a four-year-long process of negotiations. As a salvage corps, their goal was largely to assist firefighters in danger zones: employees rushed to burning buildings to try to save both lives and property, and they were accorded the same status as official firefighters while at fire zones.[2]

The present building was erected in 1897 under the direction of local contractor William Schuberth; its purpose was the storage of equipment and the housing of the Salvage Corps' employees who were on duty at any given point.[2] A brick building with a stone foundation,[3] it is a Queen Anne structure three-and-a-half stories tall.[2]

In 1982, the Underwriters Salvage Corps was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1] Key to this designation was its place in local history,[3] for it was the only Cincinnati-area corporation that worked closely with both insurance companies and the city's fire department.[2]