Side A: Toledo’s first fire station was built in November 1837 one city block due north of this site at the southwest corner of Cherry Street and Eagle Lane at 519 Cherry on what is now the driveway for the Goodwill Industries Building. It was a small non-descript, wooden building, built by contractors Hoisington and Manning for $78. It was replaced by a two-story brick building with tin-clad window sills and trim in December 1854. With fire trucks becoming larger and heavier, it was necessary to construct a new building in 1872 at a cost of $7000. Designated Station No. 2, it remained in service until 1953 when the new headquarters station at Huron and Orange streets was dedicated. It disappeared for good during the Urban Renewal projects of the late 1950s and 1960s.
Side B: Toledo’s first fire engine was hand pulled and hand pumped. Built in New York City by James Smith in 1837 and shipped here by way of the Erie Canal, it was used until after the Civil War when a horse-drawn steam pumper replaced it. Neptune No. 1 can be seen at the Toledo Firefighters Museum at 918 Sylvania Avenue. Matt Hertzfeld took the photograph of the Neptune on this marker.
Sponsors: Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Longaberger Company, Toledo Firefighters Museum and The Ohio Historical Society
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