Engine #209 Taaffe Place, 1957.

The Brooklyn Fire Department Engine 9 was organized in 1869 at 159 Taaffe Place (formerly Graham Street) in a building that had formerly housed the volunteer Engine 12.

In 1892, Engine 9 was called to a massive fire at a series of buildings on Nostrand Avenue, and its firefighters performed a number of daring rescues. The engine company moved into a different building in 1966, and was eventually disbanded in 2003. The building at 159 Taaffe Place still stands and has a faded sign "American Refractories" above the large rolling metal gate. The top floor looks to be a residence.