Manistee Fire Hall

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 1872-73 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.