The fire department has been a significant presence in Ishpeming since first being established in 1870. At one time, the Ishpeming Fire Department provided hose companies at some of the mines in the area and manned as many as five fire halls in various locations, including one in Salisbury and one at the intersection of Sixth and Vine Street. This was in an era when home heating was done with wood or coal, every kitchen was equipped with a wood stove, and lighting was produced by gas lamps and candles. With open flames in use daily around the city, the potential for fires was great and response time was slower than today because fire fighting equipment was horse-drawn.

The downtown fire hall was once located on First Street behind what is now the Congress Bar and Pizza. The current fire hall on Lake Street replaced it and has been a part of Ishpeming’s landscape ever since. When originally built in 1912, the new station was equipped with a state-of-the-art Gamewell alarm system. This consisted of numbered alarm boxes on poles throughout the city. When an alarm was signaled at one of the boxes, automatically the siren sounded, the lights went on, and the stable doors opened. The horses were trained to leave their stalls when the stable doors opened and back themselves under harnesses suspended from the ceiling, where they could quickly be hitched to the fire wagons. In their homes, fireman had signal bells, which would ring when the alarm was sounded. The number of chimes that they heard would correspond to one of the numbered boxes and by referring to a list, the firemen would know the general location of the fire.

The bell tower is a visible landmark from many locations in the downtown area, but in the late 1990′s the upper portion was removed due to structural concerns. The bell itself had been removed years earlier to prolong the life of the tower and was in storage until 1982 when it was refurbished and put on display at the side of the fire hall. The full history of the bell is unknown, but it was manufactured by McShane Bell Foundry of New Jersey in 1870 and came to hang in the new fire hall. The bell is cracked, much like the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. When victory over Japan was declared to end World War II, children were permitted into the tower to strike the bell with sledge hammers to celebrate the war’s end.

A grant was applied for, citing the fire hall as a historic structure, and approval of the grant permitted the rebuilding of the upper part of the tower and rehanging of the bell. Although the rebuilt section is simply decorative, the tower itself serves a function. The Ishpeming Fire Department continues to use the tower to hang saturated fire hoses for drying. Many fire departments have gone to more modern blow driers, but Ishpeming credits its more primitive method with preserving the hoses, some of which are more than fifty years old.

Article courtesy of Ishpeming Historical Society from A Visit To The Past Volume 2.