For 80 years, this teensy firehouse served the bustling boomtown, Nevada City, California.

Built in 1861, from the time fire wagons were pulled by horses until motorized engines roared out of the small entrance Firehouse No. 1. protected the fire-prone town full of gold seeking miners and the saloons, traders and grocers businesses that supported the small “city”. 

The impressive bell tower and Victorian facade is now one of the most photographed buildings in the tourism-heavy town, but the fire department had to move into a more substantial structure to house its continuously growing needs. The historical building is now home to the Nevada County Historical Society’s museum, a small but densely-packed collection of old photos and memorabilia of the town in its first heyday.