Berkley Old Village/Fire Hall

In the spring of 1922, leaders in the Berkley territory pushed to incorporate as a village so this part of Royal Oak Township could gain greater recognition and bond for needed water and sewer systems. After an organized campaign and petition drive, voters approved incorporation of the Village of Berkley, Michigan, on April 6, 1923, by a tally of 360 to 165, and a charter was drafted. The Police Department was formed in 1923, first using motorcycles and later a Model T touring car, and the Fire Department was established in July 1924. Before and after incorporation, village business and Voting Precinct #1 were handled in an old building near Oakwood Avenue and Monnier Road beside a sheet iron structure used by the fire and police departments. That structure burned on June 1, 1926, destroying a new American LaFrance fire engine, three motorcycles, and fire and police call equipment. The departments then used a temporary garage site on Kenmore Avenue until 1928. On September 28, 1927, village commissioners moved to build a new municipal building by purchasing property on Coolidge Highway and Rosemont Road, and on November 3, 1927, they approved a contract for construction of the Village Hall as well as a Public Works building and water tank on Bacon Avenue for $25,070; the Village Hall building and site with furnishings cost about $40,000. Dedicated on Saturday, March 10, 1928, the new Village Hall, Fire and Police Station drew hundreds for an open house and about one thousand visitors during the evening, with about three hundred attending the dedication itself. During the ceremony, the fire engine made its first run from the new building on a false alarm. The two-story brick structure with a partial basement housed fire and police vehicles, offices, quarters, a steel cell block, and the Gamewell fire and police call switchboard on the first floor, while the second floor contained the commission room, library, offices for the village clerk and treasurer, a vault, and workspace for other village officials, marking an important step in Berkley’s growth and civic identity.

Berkley, Michigan · United States