Firefighters Historical Museum

The fire station you are in is the second fire station built on this site. The first station was built in 1873 during the hand-pulled apparatus days. It was then known as the Eagle Hose Company. The station was approximately where the current entrance and fire alarm rooms are.The original station was two stories in height and faced south. It housed a four wheel hose cart on the first floor and had a dormitory on the second floor. When the Erie Fire Department started to use horses in the late 1800’s a barn was added to the west side of the structure, this was the stable area. When the alarm rang the firefighters had to run next door to get the horses. This took a lot of time to get the horses hooked up. In 1903 it was decided to build a new fire station, which is the current structure. It opened in early 1904 and housed a hose cart and a steam fire engine. The station was turned to face east to give more room for the apparatus to get in and out. The name was changed to Engine Company #4 because it is located in the 4th ward. The current entrance room and fire alarm room is where the stable area was. All the stables were removed when the Erie Fire Department became motorized starting in 1912. The last horses were used up until 1921. This station closed in 1974 when the city downsized the number of companies. In 1975 the City of Erie agreed to lease the closed fire station to the Firefighters Historical Museum Inc.  and we took over the station in October of that year. The Museum was officially opened at its current location on May 8, 1976.