Fire Station and City Hall

The San Marcos Fire Department has been held in high esteem since its beginnings in 1881, and its home from 1915 to 1969 is a fitting monument for the organization. Reflecting the early 20th-century trend in public buildings which drew inspiration from Renaissance sources, the Fire Station and City Hall building is the most important non-residential structure from the post-Victorian period, and served many community functions. Before the organization of a volunteer fire department in April 1881, a bucket brigade fought the many fires that plagued the town's frame structures. Two volunteer divisions were started in 1884--the Hook and Ladder and Alert Hose companies--and a third in 1886, the Rescue Hose Company. By 1889 the total membership of the two older companies was 26 active and 26 honorary. The department remained purely voluntary until the 1950s, and for a time was the largest voluntary fire department in the state.

Horse or mule-drawn carts served as water wagons until 1914 when the first motorized truck arrived. Dubbed "Old Faithful," the La France truck was still in use in 1975. Also, in 1914, the old station burned. The following year the new station was built in an attractive combination of motifs. Under the wide eaves and low roof typical of the Prairie Style, classical columns and cartouches decorate the front facade. Red barrel tiles are typical of Spanish-derived buildings of the period.

Stories about the town's fires and their fighters abound. Among the list of well-remembered episodes is the 1920 blacksmith shop fire that was so hot that the telephone poles on the other side of West San Antonio Street ignited. Every firehouse seems to have a Dalmatian mascot, but this one had a fox terrier, Jack, whose tiny grave is marked by an inscribed stone near the northwest corner. The bell that once topped the building warned of fires and other calamities and also proclaimed good news, such as the end of World War I. On January 6, 1924, two boys climbed to the bell to summon police after robbers held up the State Bank and Trust across the street and cut the cord.

The building housed firemen (on and off duty), a town hall with a stage and dressing room, and the Chamber of Commerce on the second floor. On the first floor, besides the fire trucks in the north part, was the city hall in the southern section.

After closing as a firehouse in 1969, the building became a local museum for a few years. It is presently for lease.