The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1940-08-16
HISTORIC OLD
CITY HALL IS
BEING RAzED

" lf'Nt'I> bii ut>'idN morning De
gan rnD juh of tearing down the old
city hall and central fire station at
the southeast corner of B.ddle avenue
ana Elm street
Il. property WAS purcha >ed from
the city SEVERAL months ago and for
weeks >isn> "u the building have in
form. all and >Uudry thar building
built &" specifications would bt erected
tor ANY tenant or tenants
Oid residents will recall many in
ter,>JuS incidents connected with the
ancient structure.
Tie original city hall WAS construct
ia Daring the incrmbency of Mayor
Jame> kcu>ch. Mr. kcuSch in early
life :: .nlins mill man, later conducted
70 small general store ou the north side
If g.. street near the corner of First
The nall was greeted 10y the citizen
~ ~ something of an architectural
achi,1 ement during its pIime
Al different times portions of the
building were occupied by the Council
a. Il meeting place. a. II public library,
for ely offices. and a. headquarters
for tbr fire department. The first fire
fighters were volunteers They were
equipped with small hand-drawn
truck. which was taken 10 ci>tern> To-
Gated in strategic places about the
then modest city of few hundred
people. In ease of fire the ciStprn>
generally ran Shy of water If another
ci>telu WAS located nearby and within
reach II the available hose. the pump-
rr was switched 10 The new location
Meantime the house or store generally
Turned To the ground. Insurance rates
were necessarily high.
~ the town grew in >iur and re-
~ul.rct :. hur>r-drawu engine wa> pur-
cha >,j and placed in duty The horses
were tabled on the premises. and the
position of city tpIm>tcr was pO-
I.ticIl prize listed in Importance with
the mayor and other city officials
The salary. a. the writer remembers.
was about $40 per day For many
years the city tcam>ter was the late
William III. Roberts. In the olden times
the volunteer firemen We're paid at Il
fixed rate per fire Following the re-
ceipt Of their pay it wa> orthodox pro
ceedure To visit Il saloon and blow
in the proceeds.
Speaking of firemen. something over
40 years ago. The Herald office caught
fire from gasoline operated steam
boiler. one of the office force hot
footed ii To the fire station with an
alarm. In record quick time the fire
fighters arrived.
The publisher at once began thinking
UP nice compliment To pay the de-
partment for its prOmptneSS.
When one Of the painting firemen
blurted out My God. We all thought
il was the brewery"
Marks brewery was located just
across (thenD Front street.
For years the second floor of the
hall was occupied by the public Ii
hrary Visitors bent on study at the
library. had their nO>trilS aSSailed by
the very hOr>ey smell that was waited
upward from the stables on the ground
floor.
One of the early librarians was
Mrs Il V Briggs. cultured little
lady who was the widow Of one of the
City'S first lawyers She was well read.
hut unSOphi>ticated in the ways Of
youth
On one occasion she had request
from small boy for copy Of The
Life of Duffy Budau" After an hours
search she re=retfully announced that
the book was not in the library. The
boy could not reSt,ain a smoker as he
walked away.
Duffy was that sort Of an anOmal-
Gus creature generally known As a
town character" His more or less
Gventful career had never engaged the
attention III an author And the boy
knew IT,
Some OF WyandOtteS most import
ant public decisions were made in the
old city hall. Ii was the scene of the
bitter factiOnal fight which attended
the ultimate establishment OF the city :
municipality owned electric light
plant. Profanity and bitter invective
often marked the discussions Of the
towns deliberative body.
There was story. given credence at
the time that one of the aldermen
accepted 500 to east his vote GER
tain way. After the vote had been
cinched by action tn prevent recOnSid-
Grafton. SD the story went. the 500
was hijacked by the paitieS offering
the reward Naturally. the alderman
was not in position to DO any hOller-
In:
In the mayors chair for a year sat
Fritz Albert ("JOe") Kirby. He was
superintendent Of the WyandOtte ship
yard. and person of some idiOSyn-
cracies. One of the latter was his re-
fuSal to cash checks for his so annual
salary.
A member Of the Council ut the
time was Aide; man Charles Schubert.
II was customary to name committees
of generally three members, TO have