Est. 1889 · One of two surviving Pueblo firehouses retaining original brass pole · Active firehouse 1889–1979 · Significant example of Victorian-era municipal fire station architecture
Hose Company No. 3 was constructed in 1889 on Broadway Avenue in Pueblo, Colorado, as one of several fire stations built to protect the growing city during its late-nineteenth-century industrial expansion. Pueblo's steel industry and dense downtown made fire protection essential, and the hose company system—in which crews dragged hose carts to hydrants rather than relying entirely on pumper trucks—was the standard of the era.
The firehouse served active duty for 90 years, from its 1889 opening through 1979, when the Pueblo Fire Department modernized and closed the older station. During those nine decades, the building accumulated the equipment and institutional memory of multiple firefighting generations. Two features distinguish the structure today: its original brass sliding pole, still in place, and the antique fire truck it once housed, which remains part of the museum display.
After closing as an active station, the building was converted to a fire museum operated with the support of the city and local preservation groups. The Visit Pueblo tourism authority lists the museum as an attraction with a note that paranormal activity is 'possible,' an unusual acknowledgment for an official tourism listing. The museum has been cited in the national fire service publication FireRescue1 as one of six haunted fire museums in the United States.
Sources
- https://visitpueblo.org/attractions/hose-company-3-fire-museum/
- https://www.firerescue1.com/firefighting-history/articles/6-haunted-fire-museums-in-the-us-z7YdPU3mJXGBJsen/
Shadowy figure seated in antique fire truckPhantom sounds of vehicles starting and departingUnexplained light and television anomaliesMoved objects
The paranormal reputation of Hose Company No. 3 has been documented by multiple independent sources, distinguishing it from single-source folklore. The Colorado haunted venues database cohauntedhouses.com records specific accounts: a shadowy figure perceived as seated inside the antique fire truck on display, unexplained sounds consistent with vehicles starting and driving away from inside the sealed building, and anomalies involving lights and television sets moving or activating without apparent cause.
According to FireRescue1, a national fire service publication, Hose Company No. 3 earned a place on its list of six haunted fire museums in the United States, suggesting the site's reputation has spread beyond local Colorado awareness into the professional firefighting community—a relatively unusual distribution for paranormal claims.
The museum's paranormal activity is also noted in the book 'In Search of the Paranormal,' which included the firehouse in its documentation of investigated Colorado sites. The Visit Pueblo official tourism site's acknowledgment that paranormal activity is 'possible' at this attraction reflects a degree of institutional acceptance of the legend, even if understated.
Media Appearances
- In Search of the Paranormal (book, date unspecified)