View From Below

Can your eyes quite make out what today's picture is? Its the view from below the fireman's pole at the now closed, yet historical Hose Co. No. 3 on Broadway Ave.  When we heard this fire station turned museum was going to be open to the public for a day, we knew we had to stop by.

Thinking we were going to get to finally see inside the fire station that as kids, we used peek into on our way from Grandma's house to Broadway Pharmacy, we had no idea the amount of history we would soon discover. The station opened in 1885, and the last fire alarm sounded in spring of 1979, when it was closed down.

Later turned into a museum, you can still see original horse drawn equipment, old fireman hats and uniforms, spectacular photos of Pueblo's past, most memorable fires (that we CANNOT wait to share with you!), and an extremely interesting history and photo wall of all of the fire chiefs that served in the building.  Mr. Pickerel and his crew have done a wonderful job sharing with us the history of Hose Co. No. 3, and he enthusiastically answered any questions we had. He also said to let him know if we ever had a group of us that wanted to come back and take another tour.

Another exciting tidbit? Its yet another building here in town that is supposedly HAUNTED! And was even featured on the SyFy's "Haunted Collector" series in 2011. Of course, we were too immersed in all the history to notice any paranormal activity, but we did stand where a mysterious hand print shows up on a window, and then again in a spot in the upstairs sleeping quarters that is always several degrees cooler than the rest of the building. A couple of our photographers here at PPAD think we need to conduct our own "Fact or Faked" episode. Field trip anyone?

The Vail Hotel

We liked this shot reflecting Memorial Hall across the street to introduce you to this historical building.

We have to start at the front door of this magnificent downtown building. This shot was chosen so you can see the oak doors up close. We will focus on the more beautiful aspects in another post, as you can see there was some original stained glass work done to the top of the door that needs to be shown off. If you back up across the street the beauty of this sort of Victorian style building comes to life. It was built in 1910, and at the time, considered to be the the most modern hotel this side of Chicago. Yes, it is on the National Historic Register. And yes, just as you might think- it rumored to be haunted. (Click here for footage by Ghost Adventures). For now though, its a retirement home. Perhaps that is fitting, yes?