Rough Draft: Original Spokane Fire Station No. 1, No. 3, No. 9; Original Elks Club

1890 Photograph of Original Spokane Fire Station No. 1

Not many would suspect that the building standing before you at 418 W. First Ave. was the city's original Spokane Fire Department's station No. 1.  Still standing over 122 years after its construction.  The building has gone through an array of structural changes and ownership.  Not long after the Great Fire that destroyed a good portion of downtown Spokane in the summer of 1889, the city decided that stronger, better-trained personnel and up-to-date accommodations were needed to protect the sprawling city and its people.  Before the fire demolished blocks of buildings, Spokane was served by a volunteer only fire department who had to drag the hose reels by hand to where they were needed to put out fires. On January 1, 1890, the Italianate style building was sworn in by the city's first paid fire chief, E.P. Gillette.  Now with paid personnel, uniforms and better training, Spokane Fire Department was on the road to representing the finest fire department in the nation. 
The modern passerby would scarcely marvel at its beauty now but in its prime, the building was a thing of splendor, drawing scrutiny for being more lavish than functional.  With beautiful red brick, ornate decorations, molded tin ceilings and a polished brass pole descending from the 2nd floor dormitories to the first floor, the firefighters who worked there could not find anything practical about it.
The station cost $12,826 to build, whereas Station No. 3, built in the same year, only cost $784.  After the hose trolley became outdated equipment, the new Silsby steam fire engine was a new technological innovation for the department, however it was still pulled by a team of horses and had to be backed into the bay, which can be appreciated by those who have backed a modern fire engine into one of the department bays.  The bay was so small, that the horses themselves could not be housed there along with the other fire equipment.  It wasn't until 1911 when the fire department first started using motorized fire engines.  Measuring 32x76 feet, the bay doors were unable to accommodate new fire apparatus as they were obtained, as the doors were not wide enough.  An 1800 pound bell hung at the top of the bell tower, but had to be removed rather quickly as it was compromising the integrity of the building's structure.      
Exactly 43 years to the day, on January 1, 1933, Station No.1 was closed down with three other stations to make a newer and larger station.  The Spokane Fire Department headquarters and Station No. 1 are located blocks away on Riverside Avenue in downtown Spokane.

Photos collected; I do have captions written up