An old Leesburg building that was once used as a firehouse is currently undergoing a massive renovation. The building which is located at 126th South Street was built in 1926. Crew were seen painting the exterior of the facade today. The building had a few purposes during the early years of its life including as a firehouse at one point. Later years saw the building go through owners and eventually sit abandoned for years. Firehouse doors that would have let an engine through the front of the building and out onto 5th street has been replaced with what looks to be double doors for a business.

The old firehouse doors can still be seen in this photo although difficult to make out. The wide door was large enough to fit one firetruck inside, however no truck will ever make it back inside. The entire interior is now office space.

(Leesburg Ladder 55 may have occasionally called the building home. Leesburg fire now uses Ladder 61, Ladder 62 and Ladder 63 these days in much more modern buildings.)

Since it was built in 1926 the building has been traditionally red in color. The building is built out of bricks and was built during a renaissance of businesses flourishing to the Leesburg region. Leesburg Fire was established in 1875. Back then only a handful of people worked for the department. For many years that is how it stayed. Right after the building was built, the crash of 1929 hit many of the local business interests hard in this region. It took years to recover for many of them. But the building can be seen in some old photos dating back to the first Leesburg Watermelon Festival in 1930 which used to be a major source of income for the area.

(Don’t worry the building is not being painted white! This is just primer and the building is indeed keeping its traditional red color.)

Back in the 1930s only one engine was really needed in the area. There were not enough people in the area to warrant a second engine. Eventually additional ladder units were added over the years as Leesburg grew. The fire department now has over 47 employees and many different kinds of Firetrucks including Ladder 61, Ladder 62, Ladder 63 there are also many support vehicles.

(The building is getting a fresh paint job among many other renovations happening to the historic building including a completely redone interior.)

It should be interesting to see what this building develops into. We were told by Town of Leesburg that they believe that potential retail space or restaurant would be opening in the near future.