Category Archives: Fire Houses

Engine House No. 5, Remarkably it was Moved Brick by Brick

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Engine house no5 grand rapids

Built in 1880 in Grand Rapids, on the bank of the Grand River, Engine House No. 5 served the community with a horse-drawn steam pumper and a hose cart. At the time of her construction, she gleamed in white brick with red courses, towered and turreted in almost Byzantine splendor. When it was built, horse-drawn pumpers would race to the fires eventually the horses were replaced with motorized fire trucks. Sadly on the stations 100th birthday in 1980, she was slated to be torn down. By demolition time, her brick had been painted Tuscan red, most of her decoration covered over with plaster, and her usefulness was at an end. But this once-noble structure wasn’t leveled by a wrecking ball; rather, it was taken apart brick by brick and moved. Today, it rests-restored to her Victorian splendor-in the town of Allendale west of Grand Rapids, and is the Engine House #5 Museum

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The Historic Manistee Fire Hall – Michigan Historical Marker

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Manistee fire hall

In early October 1888, the Manistee City Council hired Frederick Hollister of Saginaw, the architect of Manistee’s principle 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

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The Majestic City Hall and the Propeller at Lake Linden.

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Lake Linden Michigan city hall

 

The village of Lake Linden in the Keweenaw Peninsula suffered a devastating fire in May 1887, which affected 75% of the structures. Although the frame village hall survived, city fathers believed that a new fireproof structure with space for a fire station would be in the best interests of the community.In 1901, the village asked architects for designs, and chose one submitted by Charles K. Shand of Calumet. The Hall was built by a local contractor, L. F. Ursin, and opened in 1902, serving as village offices, fire station, polling place, and public meeting hall.

A propeller from the Lady Be Good, an American B-24 Liberator lost in the Libyan Desert in April 1943, is on display in front of the village hall. Crewmember T/Sgt. Robert E. LaMotte of Lake Linden was a radio operator aboard the aircraft. His remains were found in the desert in 1960.

Lady Be Good was an USAAF B-24D Liberator that mysteriously disappeared without trace on its first combat mission during World War II. The plane, from 376th Bomb Group, had been on a bombing raid to Naples on April 4, 1943 when it was lost. Although the aircraft was thought to have crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, with the loss of its nine-man crew, it was eventually found 440 mi inland in the Libyan Desert in 1958. The remains of all but one of its crew have been recovered.

It was accidentally discovered by an oil exploration team from BP in 1958. Investigations concluded the crew failed to realize they had overflown their air base in a sandstorm possibly assuming the moonlight reflecting over the wavy sand dunes that they were still flying over sea. After continuing to fly south into the desert for many hours well beyond their ETA, they bailed out when the plane’s fuel ran out. The survivors then died in the desert trying to walk to safety.

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The Magnificent Houghton Fire Hall

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houghton michigan fire hallThe Continental Fire Company organized in 1860 in Houghton built their new fire hall in 1883 and occupied the basement, which housed horses, and the main floor, which stored fire engines. Village offices were on the second floor. The Michigan Mining School, now Michigan Technological University, held its first classes on the second floor and in the basement from 1886 through May 1889. In the early 1900s, the building was extended to the north to store more oats and hay for the horses. In 1916, an addition was built on the western side to store two more fire engines.

The city moved its offices out of the fire hall in the 1930s. On August 5, 1966, a bronze plaque was unveiled commemorating the building as the original home of the university. In 1974, the fire department moved to a new, more centrally located fire hall along Sharon Avenue in order to accommodate larger modern equipment. The fire bell was removed in October 1975 and transferred to the new location.

The fire hall was listed as a Michigan State Historic Site on August 6, 1976.In 1978, the university purchased the building from the city to use as storage.It was sold in 2010 to a private group who renovated it into an entertainment venue, called the Continental Fire Co., which opened in February 2012.

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The Calumet Red Jacket Fire House

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calumet michigan fire station

 

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.