MFD Firehouse at 217 W. National Ave.
c. early 20th Century
This water color shows a firehouse that was in service in the late 19th century near downtown Milwaukee. Fires were a real concern in early American cities. Before brick structures most buildings were wooden. If one building caught fire it could threaten the entire block, or worse.
The image can tell us a lot about the early Milwaukee Fire Department as well. The location was very important, firehouses would be strategically built throughout the city so that it would not take too long for any one firehouse to respond in case of an emergency. Before the modern motor driven fire engines, they were all horse drawn. Because of this firehouses doubled as stables as well. There can also be seen a large look out tower on this firehouse. That was the early fire detection system. Before the telphone, and smoke detector they had smoke watchers. These were men that scanned the horizon and looked for the tell tale sign of a fire, smoke. Some of these towers were taller than church steeples in Milwaukee.
