Vigilant Engine Co. Firehouse Is a Preservation Success Story
Photo by Eric Ayres Trending
WHEELING -- The Friends of Wheeling continued its efforts to share examples of historic preservation success stories, looking back at the old firehouse in North Wheeling.
The local historic preservation organization has been working to shed light on and celebrate efforts to restore historic structures in town. As the city continues to lose pieces of its history with every 100-plus-year-old building that is torn down, efforts to save historic structures are being viewed as an investment in one of Wheeling's most notable assets -- its rich past as seen through the unique architecture of buildings that have been part of the community for generations.
Greg Smith, a member of the board of directors for the Friends of Wheeling who also serves on the Historic Landmarks Commission for the city of Wheeling, spoke before city leaders this month to share another preservation success story. The story highlighted the past, present and future of the Vigilant Engine Company station in the historic North Wheeling neighborhood at 650 Main St.
"This beautiful building was built in 1891-92 as a replacement for a firehouse that had stood at the same location and had burned," Smith said. "Architect Charles Hamilton reportedly modeled the building after Engine House No. 14 in Pittsburgh and designed it to have side-by-side bays to accommodate the engine on one side and the hose carriage on the other, allowing both to start out of the building simultaneously."
When the old firehouse was built, fire departments still relied on horses to pull heavy equipment, Smith noted. The Vigilant Engine Company's station in North Wheeling has space inside to keep the horses.
"There were stalls for four fire horses in the rear of the building," Smith said. "The second floor originally housed the dormitory, dressing room, bath room and ‘water closets.’"
For many decades, the building continued to be used as a fire station until a new station was built in the neighborhood in 1976.
"The building next housed the Oglebay Wood Carvers Guild for a time, followed by the Firehouse Restaurant and the Paesano’s Restaurant, which closed around 2005," Smith said. "After that time, the building stood empty for a number of years before being acquired by Chuck Wood of Crest Investments in 2016."
Ten years of renovation followed, Smith noted. A bookstore and coffee shop -- Vigilant Books & Coffee -- is planned for the building. Smith said the business is nearly ready to open.
While renovations to the historic building were ongoing, Wood noted in 2024 that he had purchased the building for $30,000 and spent $200,000 on repairs and renovations. Part of the project's "push to the finish line" came by way of a $50,000 grant from the Wheeling Heritage Revitalization Subgrant Project, which Wood had to match to fund building repairs.
"Grant funds helped with the renovation work," Smith said. "The value of such grants is important - if not essential - to complete projects such as this. Any assistance that the city can provide in obtaining or providing renovation grants would certainly be welcome."
This was the second in a series of historic preservation success stories shared by the Friends of Wheeling.
For more information about the organization, visit Friends of Wheeling.
This was the second in a series of historic preservation success stories shared by the Friends of Wheeling. For more information about the organization, visit wheelingheritage.org/friends-of-wheeling.