648-650+Main

Vigilant Engine House, 648-650 Main Street


Built 1891, replacing an earlier fire house that burned earlier in the year. The Library of Congress image (above right and more in link) shows the original bell tower, with the 1891 date - the V-shaped roof of the tower is now gone.

[|Vigilant Engine House 648-650 Main Street, LOC]

According to undated brochure for //Victorian Show-Off / A Tour of Old Town// this was built by WA Wilson and Son for a cost of $9500. Wilson lived nearby and was //happy to pay for a fire house. It has become a restaurant and is now housing the Oglebay Woodcarvers Guild.It is one of the more important architectural statements in the Historic District and it used to have a bell tower.// The bell now sits in front of the fire station at Main and 8th St. Since at least 2005 it has been an empty building waiting for a buyer... Purchased in August 2016.

The 1925 photo shows that the left/north garage door was not yet widened.

Photo from 1890s? shows fire ladder. Fire house is just out of picture of the right. Compare house behind ladder to house in 1825 photo above. Also note the wood-sided house at left side - that was replaced by brick apartment building at 638-640 Main in 1890s or about 1900.

Firehouse in the neighborhood.

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