Holland City Hall and Firehouse No. 2

The city of Holland bought this lot in 1882, and contractor James Huntley began construction of a fire hall the next year. Completed in 1884, the solid brick building housed Holland's city offices and library until 1912 and served as a fire hall until 1978. On March 8, 1884, some 150 people attended the Columbia Fire Engine Company's oyster supper celebration honoring Holland's new city hall and firehouse. The building reflected the desire for fire proof construction following the 1871 fire that devastated the city. The city clerk and a special committee consulted with the Grand Rapids firm of Robinson and Barnaby and designed the structure with a tower to accommodate drying fifty-foot unfolded fire hoses; originally, a cupola topped the tower. During World War II the west annex was built. In 1983 the firehouse was rehabilitated for use as office space, with filled grooves in the engine house floor that had provided traction for horses and restored doors that had once been replaced to accommodate trucks.

Holland, Michigan · United States