Galt Fire Department Hall

The Galt Fire Department was established in 1842, and the Hall was the organization's home from 1898 until 1980. Fred Mellish, a local architect, oversaw the construction of the Hall. He was well-known, in the area, and designed other significant civic buildings, including the Carnegie Library and the Cambridge Farmer's Market. Both of these buildings are in close proximity to the Galt Fire Department Hall.

The Galt Fire Department Hall is an excellent example of Romanesque Revival and High Victorian architecture. Typical of these styles, the front façade includes a large gabled dormer, with pilasters, brackets and dentils. The embossed “GFD”, for Galt Fire Department, on the pediment above the main façade contributes to the decorative nature of the Hall. One of the most outstanding features of the hall is the four-storey pyramidal-roofed tower, which is crowned with ornamental brickwork trim. Also featured on the tower are four pairs of arcaded windows with original sashes, one pair per side.

The Galt Fire Department Hall is one in a group of historic civic buildings in the downtown Galt area of Cambridge. The Hall's tower is similar to that of the both the Old Town Hall and the Cambridge Farmer's Market, and the architecture of the Fire Department Hall possesses Italianate influences, just like the Old Town Hall. The continuity that is created by these relationships creates an identifiable district.