This old white and red building caught my eye when I was passing through Sebewaing. The sign above the garage door reads, Sebewaing Fire Dept. Station No. 1. The other sign says: Original 1883 cost $620. I am not sure when it closed but a new fire station sits a few blocks away. I am pretty sure the new one costs a lot more than $620 to build. The old station is privately owned.
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It’s hard to miss this fire station in downtown Negaunee. The station was built in 1910 and the circles in the top of the hose/bell tower once had clock faces in them. The clocks were moved to city hall.
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The Fireman’s Memorial is not far from Roscommon and lists the names of Michigan firefighters that have died. Detroit-born sculptor Edward Chesney created the sculpture of the firefighter rescuing a young child. Next time you are headed up north on I-75 stop by the memorial. It’s not far from Exit 239 on Robinson Lake Rd about a half-mile east of M-18
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This brown building with a green roof sits in the town of Manton north of Cadillac. A small sign over the front door reads MANTON FIRE BARN 1872. I am guessing the bell was to alert firefighters to a fire and summoned them to the fire barn. The tower in the back was to hang and dry hoses. I did a little research, I am not sure, but I think this is one of the oldest fire stations still standing in Michigan. I did find this old photo of the fire barn and firefighters
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The old Milan Fire Barn was built in 1897 and served as a fire station until 1979. The building housed the fire department and some of the city’s fire vehicles, including a 1938 Ford Fire Truck that Henry Ford traded to the city for an earlier Ford fire truck. Over time it also housed the police department, a jail (which consisted of a single jail cell), and the city library was housed upstairs.
In 1979 the fire department moved to a new station on Wabash street and the old fire barn was abandoned. In 1983 the city donated the fire barn to the Milan Area Historical Society which restored the building in 2002 with money generated by fundraisers.
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Standing at the east end of downtown Holland’s shopping district, is the old city hall and Firehouse. I wonder how many people notice this stately old building while they are out shopping or enjoying a meal at one of the pubs. I know it’s not forgotten for there’s a historical marker out front recalling its history. The sign says
The city of Holland bought this lot in 1882, and contractor James Huntley began construction of a fire hall the next year. Completed in 1884, the building housed Holland’s city offices and library until 1912 and served as a fire hall until 1978. During World War II the west annex was built. In 1983 the firehouse was rehabilitated for use as office space. Grooves in the engine house floor that provided traction for the horses have been filled, and the doors, once replaced to accommodate trucks have been restored.
On March 8, 1884, some 150 people attended the Columbia Fire Engine Company’s oyster supper celebration honoring Holland’s new city hall and firehouse. The solid brick building reflects the desire for “fire proof” construction following the 1871 fire that devastated the city. The city clerk and a special committee consulted with the Grand Rapids firm of Robinson and Barnaby, and designed the structure with a tower to accommodate drying fifty-foot unfolded fire hoses. Originally a cupola topped the tower.
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I was roaming around Battle Creek and I came across this historic fire House. Carved in the stone at the top is No.2 Fire Station 1903. It is a beautiful looking building and still used today. Trying to find a little info about the building I came across this postcard from 1909.
It is always fascinating seeing an old photo of someplace I visited. I wonder about the stories the men could tell if this old postcard could talk.
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The fire station in Manistee just earned the Guinness World Record for the oldest continuously manned fire station in the world. Manned 24-hours a day, seven days a week since 1889.
The historical marker for the station gives a little bit of its history and reads:
In early October 1888, the Manistee City Council hired Frederick Hollister of Saginaw, the architect of Manistee’s principal school, to design a fire hall to replace the original station, which was constructed in 1872 – 1873 on Filer Street. Later that month the Manistee Democrat predicted that the city’s new fire hall would be “a model of convenience and usefulness.” Constructed of brick, cut-stone and French plate glass and trimmed with galvanized iron, this Romanesque Revival-style building was constructed by the local firm of Brownrigg and Reynolds at a cost of $7,516. The dome is covered with copper. The hall opened in June 1889 when Manistee’s first “fire truck,” a horse-drawn steam engine, was brought from the original hall. It is the oldest continually operated fire station in Michigan
Thank you to all to first responders and the people who work to keep us safe.
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The Calumet Fire Station (also known as the Red Jacket Fire Station) is located on 6th Street in Calumet, Michigan, and was designed by Charles K. Strand, a local Architect in the Richardson Romanesque design. In the rear of the Fire Hall, was the stable for the six horses used to pull the fire wagons. The horses were used into the 1930’s even though the first mechanized fire truck arrived for the Village of Calumet in 1919, a La France pumper made in France and shipped to Calumet over the ocean and then by rail. That fire truck is on display in the museum as is its twin that came at the same time for the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. Snow removal equipment was not used on the Village streets until the 1930s therefore in the winter with the 200+ inches of snow the snow was “panked” using large rollers pulled by horses and the fire trucks would have their wheels removed and sleigh runners attached and the fire trucks would be pulled to the fire location by horses.
In 1964, the fire department moved to the town hall building. The building was used in various ways, including rooms for summer repertory performers at the nearby Calumet Theatre. The building was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and is part of the Calumet Historic District and the Keweenaw National Historical Park. The building now houses the Copper Country Firefighters History Museum.
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I was passing through the small town of Applegate in the thumb and this little building caught my eye. The sign on the front reads: APPLEGATE FIRE DEPT. MUSEUM STATION NO. 1 EST 1914. There is a newer fire station down the street. This was the original fire station. I can still imagine the old firefighting apparatus coming out of the wooden doors, racing down the street to help someone in need.
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