michigan firehouse museum

when you step inside, you'll be fired up for history. the staff are nice and the admission is only 5 dollars. The first floor just contains the offices, a small gift area right as you walk in and an impressive display of modern as well as antique fire engines including Ford and Ahrens-Fox. in the back of the display room are the elevators and a garage with hoses and a fake horse drawn fire engine. You can ring an old station bell. On the 2nd floors are pictures and small objects on display, there's also a video playing. Forgot, also on the 2nd floor is a kitchen, bunk room/alarm receiver/dispatch unit with a fire pole. The basement is pretty neat too. They have a display of fire chief cars and they even have a small child's dress up area with a fire engine coin operated(i believe)ride. If you're lucky, one of the staff members will demonstrate a crank-operated mechanical siren from one of the antique engines and believe me, plug your ears when they do because since it's a big room, the reverb makes the sucker 100 times louder. they also have a fire muster once a year on a Saturday in August where firefighters in Michigan will display their old/new vehicles for fun purposes and there's even a smoke house. I loved it and felt great to be a kid again One time, I was sitting in this fire truck of Ypsilanti City and after a while, they had got a call and I saw them leave. So stay cool and get fired up for some awesome adventures coming your way when you visit the museum.

It's just hard to get excited about fire trucks, but they do have a kids section downstairs where kids can play so maybe if there were some little ones with me then I could enjoy their happiness and excitement, but I'm too old to get excited about this myself.It's good to see that these old trucks are being preserved for future generations to see and remind them how far technology has come along to keep us safe with early versions of fire warning systems here and also fire tractors pulled by horses.I do suggest this as a family outing with small kids who will love it and for those that are really enthusiastic about these sorts of things. Otherwise there isn't much here for you

The museum is handicap accessible and very clean. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. The only downside is very little parking. But since it's off the beaten trail, we had no parking issue. The equipment is very nice and not dusty. There are plenty to see for any fire museum enthusiasts.

The new museum is attached to an old fire station that closed in the 1970s. The old fire station provides a glimpse of what these stations looked like in the past and the new museum has many examples of fire fighting equipment and early fire trucks. The building is clean with three floors of exhibits and the displays are well-organized. The tour guides are enthusiastic and well-informed. There is a nice gift shop. This is a great place to take school age children.

One of the early fire stations in Ypsilanti was purchased and added onto to create this museum. There are many early horse drawn fire engines along with early fire trucks. It is a very nice collection of fire equipment that is very nicely displayed.

Lived in Ypsi for years and had never been. Took my grandkids there one afternoon for something to do. They found it fascinating. The firetrucks range from horse drawn to more recent designs. Many pictures and displays to look at. Worth a visit.

Lots of antique fire engines and equipment. Well worth a visit. The building itself is very interesting and the pictures of the changes over time as intriguing.

Never thought I'd be interested in a fire house museum but prompted by a young nephew I went. I learned a lot, and the evolution of firefighting engines and technology was intriguing. Worth a visit.

If you like fire engines, you'll love this museum! Located in a historic firehouse a short walk from Ypsilanti's Depot Town, this museum features fire engines from recent times all the way back to horse-drawn engines of yesteryear, most restored to their original condition. Walk through on your own or take a guided tour as your interest and time allow.....

There's lot to see at this museum. The building is large, very clean, well lit, well organized with plaques at each exhibit to provide information and history about the various items in the collections. There is collections of fire trucks from about 1968 very early, the kind utilizing horse power and hand pulled. Many were on loan and nearly all were in tip top condition. (If I had a fire engine or other fire related artifact, I would be happy to loan it to this museum.) There's was also collections of ladders, hats, fire grenades (I had never heard of them, they were used early to extinguish fires), the nets used to catch people who jumped, badges, bells, sirens, etc. You name it, they had it. And we didn't get past the main floor because we arrived so close to their closing time at 4 PM. A nice selection of fire-engine related toys is available for purchase. We enjoyed this museum although neither has a friend or family member who is a fire fighter. The only thing that would have made this visit better, is a docent who might have provided additional information and, perhaps, negated the vast silence that greeted us. Other than the staff, we were the only ones in the building.The cost of the museum self-guided tour was $5.00.

Lots of local history here. A good place to go alone or for a family. Kids will enjoy seeeing the old fire engines.

The best part is stepping into an old time fire station - walking through the apartment, the kitchen, the library... the old trucks are cool to see - but maybe because fire fighters don't really excite me, I wasn't all that interested or captured by what I saw.

Largest collection of Fire Engines anywhere. Many Vintage engines from hand pumpers to ladder trucks

Great venue for private parties. they allow you to bring in food from approved vendors. Lots of space with interesting items

This was a small but well thought out museum. I was impressed with the number of items they had to look at, especially the extremely old fire trucks, sirens, etc. There a few children with their parents and they seemed to really enjoy it. We were offered free plastic fire hats after we paid the $5 entrance fee (for adults), but we good-naturedly declined. This is a place you would just drive by and never think to stop in if you lived in the area, but it was worth the visit.