Founded in 1799, the fire company is one of the city's oldest civic and social institutions. Its members celebrated their history in this richly ornamented building that denoted its purpose in the utilitarian hose-drying tower that gives it an ecclesiastical flavor, but its open grid of brick seems remarkably modern. Nearby at 120 N. Church Street is the former city market, now adapted for law offices. By style it dates from 1870 and is not unlike contemporary market buildings in other courthouse towns from Lancaster to York.