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The Fire-Hose House

In 1898, three years after Empire was incorporated, the village of Empire purchased 500 feet of hose and two nozzles to begin the Empire Volunteer Fire Department. The village built a small building to store the hoses and other fire equipment on the east side of LaRue street just north of Front Street. Later that year, the village purchased all the fire equipment from Lake Ann after a fire destroyed much of that village, including a hand-pulled hose cart. Thus began the Empire public water system operated by the Empire Lumber Company. In 1908, the village purchased an additional 500 feet of hose and an additional hose cart. In 1911, a new 20' X 40' hose house was built on the south side of Front Street where the library sits today. A large fire bell was purchased in 1918 for alerting fire-fighting volunteers. This bell was also rung vigorously to celebrate the end of World War I. In 1947, a fire siren replaced this bell, and the original bell is now on display at the museum.

Fire Trucks

In 1949 Empire took a huge step into the modern world by purchasing two 1917 Seagrave fire trucks to replace hand-pulled hose carts. The trucks were beautiful, gleaming, gas-powered, chain-driven machines that were also extremely noisy and top heavy with a tendency to roll over. In 1950 the fire-hose house was moved back on the property (to the south) to make room for a new fire house. The old fire-hose house was then used for village council meetings and other uses.

Empire's First Museum and Research Center

In 1976, the village of Empire allowed the newly formed Empire Area Heritage Group to turn the south half of the original old fire-hose house into Empire's first museum. The museum occupied the building in its entirety in 1982 after a new fire station was opened on LaCore street. The remaining fire-hose house on Front street was then converted into the Glen Lake Community Library. When the library was expanded, the museum relocated the original fire-hose house to new museum grounds in 1996. The museum now uses the south half of the original fire-hose house to showcase vintage fire-fighting equipment. The north half of the building, known as the Diane E. Fischer Research Center, is used for administrative offices and historical records.