Old Fire Station One is located in downtown San Jose at Market Street and St. James Street, right next to new Fire Station One which opened in 2000. Old Fire Station One sits on .46 acre. It was in service from 1951 until 2000. Today it is owned by the City of San Jose’s Redevelopment Agency.
Today, the San Jose Fire Museum’s highest priority is saving Old Fire Station One.
The SJFM is determined to save the 56-year-old Art Deco-style station. It has a high historical evaluation score and served the SJFD for one third of its great history. Our goal is to turn this site into the most complete fire museum in the country. As part of our final phase, we plan to construct a third building in the backyard of Old Fire Station One.
The original station facade from the 1800’s will stand here. Combined, this site, with the new station and the Old Fire Station One facades, will occupy a one-acre lot and will display and tell the history of the SJFD for the past 153 years (SJFD was established in 1854 by the City of San Jose). No other city in the country can claim this.
The SJFM feels the Fire Station One Museum proposal will create a destination for visitors staying in the downtown. It would connect the Downtown Walking History Tour between Fallon House and Peralta Adobe and the Courthouse, Post Office and St. James Park. The SJFM also has one of the finest and largest collections of fire apparatus, tools and equipment and one of the best written histories in the country. This museum would be the pride of our citizens and a place for every school in the San Jose area to take their kids on a field trip and learn fire safety education annually.
The San Jose Fire is a non-profit organization created to provide service to the San Jose Fire Department (SJFD) and the City of San Jose while preserving the history of the SJFD. The SJFM started in the early 1970’s and was originally called the San Jose Muster Team. In 2002, we changed our name to the SJFM, became incorporated and received a 510 (c) 3 non-profit status from the State of California.