Designed by Charles K. Shand and built in 1898, this Fire Station is his most successful design in the community. Using local red sandstone, and the no longer fashionable Richardsonian Romanesque, he produced a solid and dignified building. The plan, also, is well realized, incorporating the needs of horses, engines and men. The building served the community until 1964 when the fire department was moved into quarters in the village hall. Library of Congress
The Jacobsville Sandstone has homogeneous sandstone layers several meters thick, that can be mined stratigraphically along nearly flat-lying stretches close to Lake Superior (see photo below), where it could be loaded on barges for cheap transport. This homogeneous sandstone makes up the firehall and many other buildings in Calumet. The sandstone was soft, ideal for stone carving into blocks with beautiful shapes, and also in decorative forms, making ledges and gables, and even lettering. The firehall has a distinctive sculptural feel.
