Auburn, California’s Hook and Ladder #2 fire house celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. Built by the volunteer firemen of the company with funds they raised from the public, it was in active service until the 1950s, and has been preserved since.
Inside is a 1914 engine that belonged to the company, although it was retired before the company relocated in 1954.
It’s not Auburn’s only preserved fire house—Hook and Ladder #1 also had a firehouse, built three years earlier, paid for by a mining company that used the second floor as offices. It was rescued from demolition in 1974. Both buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.
