Postcard Fire Hall and Market Building, Waterloo, Ont., Canada

Published by J. Herb Smith, Waterloo, Ont., Canada Printed in Saxony

Three important public buildings once stood together in a row on Albert Street – the Town Hall, the fire hall, and the Waterloo Market. Town Hall (left) opened in 1874, and cost only $10,000 to build. The fire hall (centre) opened in 1885 and cost only $2100 to construct. Its tower design allowed firefighters to string up and dry the wet fire hoses. The tower also held a cast iron bell, which rang to alert the town of a fire. A farmers’ market had been an important part of life in Waterloo since the 1850s. In 1910, the Waterloo Market building (right) opened. More than 200 vendors sold vegetables, eggs and livestock daily - an essential service before the days of supermarkets and refrigerators.